A new ASTM International standard will help people who regularly need to determine particle size distribution for soil, including civil engineers who build levees, farmers who fertilize crops, and many others. The new standard, (D7928, Test Methods for Particle Size Distribution (Gradation) of Fine-Grained Soils Using the Sedimentation (Hydrometer) Analysis, provides a test method for determining particle size.
Particle size distribution, also known as gradation, refers to the proportions by dry mass of a soil distributed over specified particle-size ranges. This helps classify soils for engineering and agricultural purposes because particle size influences things such as how fast or slow water or other fluid moves through soil.
“Knowing the grain size distribution of a soil is important for a variety of reasons and for a range of uses,” says ASTM member Kendra Adams, Blue Rock Labs. “For example, gradation results influence the design of earthen dams, levees, and landfills.”
The new standard will help:
• civil and geotechnical engineers design and make recommendations for projects, particularly those involving water drainage;
• geologists determine depositional environments and provenance;
• agronomists with drainage from and nutrient delivery to crops;
• regulatory and accreditation bodies seeking a consistent and accepted method to assess laboratories; and
• laboratories seeking a defined method to perform the test.
In addition to this new standard, ASTM’s Committee on Soil and Rock (D18) is working on another gradation standard (WK38106, Test Method for Particle-Size Analysis of Soils Combining the Sieve and Sedimentation Techniques). All interested parties are invited to join in the development of this proposed standard.
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ASTM Committee D18 on Soil and Rock Next Meeting: Jan. 29-Feb. 1, 2017, January Committee Week, Norfolk, Va.
Media Inquiries: Dan Bergels, tel +1.610.832.9602; dbergels@astm.org
Technical Contact: Kendra Adams, Blue Rock Labs Inc., Littleton, Colo., ksarocksu@yahoo.com
ASTM Staff Contact: Robert Morgan, tel +1.610.832.9732; rmorgan@astm.org
Release #10118