Compaction equipments

It is necessary to compact the material after placing so

as to prevent distortion, settlement and softening. A
high degree of compaction of the fill material gives the
following advantages:
 Subsequent maintenance cost such as re compaction
can be reduced.
 Risks of landslips can be reduced.
 Permanent structures can be constructed immediately
on top of the fill.
 Higher bearing pressure can be used in the design of
foundations for permanent structures.
The function of compaction equipment is to produce higher
density in soil mechanically. The basic forces used in
compaction are static weight, kneading, impact and vibration.
The degree of compaction that may be achieved depends on
the properties of soil, its moisture content, the thickness of
the soil layer for compaction and the method of compaction.

Objectives for Compaction

•Increasing the bearing capacity of foundations;
•Decreasing the undesirable settlement of structures;
•Control undesirable volume changes;
•Reduction in hydraulic conductivity;
•Increasing the stability of slopes.
Types of Compactor
-Vibratory compactors
-Sheepsfoot Roller.
-Grid or Mesh.
-Steel Drum.
-Pneumatic – Tried
Roller -
Dynamic Compactors
Vibratory compactors
Vibration creates impact forces thus result in greater
impact forces
The impact imparted by the vibration produces pressure
waves that set the particles in motion and moving them
closer together for the highest density possible
.
Smooth Drum Vibratory soil compactor

Available in single &dual drum models

Generate three compactive forces impact, vibration
& pressure
These rollers are most effective on granular
materials, with particles size ranging from large
rocks to fine sand.

Frequency is around 4000 vpm and

amplitudes range from .018 to
.020. Vibration is provided by
eccentric shafts placed in the drums
or mounted on the frame.
They can be used on a semi cohesive soil with up to
about 10% of material having a PI of five or greater

Padded Drum Vibratory soil compactor

Padded rollers are also known as
trench rollers due to their effective
use in trenches and excavations.
Large eccentric units provide high
impact force and high amplitude
(for rollers) that are appropriate for
cohesive soils.
The drum pads provide a kneading
action on soil.
The drum of the roller some time
extend beyond the body.
Rammers
Rammers deliver a high impact force ( high
amplitude) making them an excellent choice
for cohesive and semi-cohesive soils.
Frequency range is 500 to 750 blows per
minute.
The rammer is inclined at a forward angle to
allow forward travel as the machine jumps.
Rammers cover three types of compaction:
impact, vibration and kneading.
Rammers get compaction force from a small
gasoline or diesel engine powering a large
piston set with two sets of springs
These rollers are usually found as
towed drum models and is
suitable for compacting all fine
grained materials but is
generally not suitable for use on
noncohesive granular materials.
They are steel wheels equipped
with cylindrical pads (or feet)
normally less than 10 in in
length.
The pads on sheepsfoot drum
penetrate through the top lift and
actually compact the below lift.
When the drum rotates the pads
out of the soil they kick up or fluff
the material because of their
shape. The working speed is 4
to 6 mph and usually
 6 to 10 passes are needed to
compact an 8 in lift.
The sheepsfoot roller tends to
aerate the soil as it compacts, so it
is ideally suited for working soils
that have moisture contents above
the acceptable moisture range.
Grid roller (mesh).
It operates in a manner similar to
sheepsfoot roller but its kneadin
element is a grid or mesh not feet
as in sheepsfoot roller.
When equipped with the extra
weight, such as slabs of concrete,
this grid can exert tremendous
pressure on soil, crushing rocks
and pushing the broken pieces
beneath the surface.
Tamping rollers.
Tamping foot compactors are
high-speed, self-propelled,
non-vibratory rollers.
These rollers usually have 4
steel padded wheels and can
be equipped with a small
blade to help level of lift. The
pads are tapered with an
oval or rectangular face. The
pad face is smaller than the
base of the pad at the drum.
As the tamping roller moves
over the surface, the feet
penetrate the soil to produce
a kneading action and a
pressure to mix and compact
the soil from bottom to the
top of the layer.
 The working speed is 8-12 mph and
usually 2 to 3 passes will be needed
to compact 8-12 in lift.
A tamping foot roller is effective on
all soils except clean sand.
Steel drum compactor.
The steel drum compactor is a
smooth-wheeled steel roller that is
typically water ballasted.
It may be towed or self-propelled
and one, two and three axle types
are common. Its frequently
classified by weight for eg, the two-
axle tandem roller (5-8 tons), three-
axle tandem roller (9-14 tons), etc.
The two-axle roller is suitable for
compacting either diagonally
across or lengthwise along the
surfaces. The three –axle roller
should only be used lengthwise.
Thus, two-axle roller is generally
used more than three-axle roller
which is used chiefly on large
highway projects, runways and
similar projects.
Steel drum compactors are most
effective on granular materials
sucha as sand, gravel and
crushed stone. Steel drum
compactors see much use on
streets, highways, runways,
parking lots and similar jobs.
 VARIOUS COMPACTORS
PRINCIPAL METHODS OF
COMPACTION
COMPACTOR IMPACT PRESSURE VIBRATION KNEADING
TYPE
SHEEPSFOOT X
TAMPING X X
FOOT
VIBRATION X X
SMOOTH
VIBRATION X X
PADFOOT
PNEUMATIC X X

FOR COMPLETION OF A PROJECT SUCCESFULLY AND ECONOMICALLY

SEVERAL COMPACTORS MAY BE USED TO DENSIFY THE SOIL PROPERLY.
IF DENSITY IS NOT ACHIEVED IN FOUR TO FIVE COVERAGES , A
DIFFERENT COMAPACTOR IS CONSIDERED.
SOIL TYPE V/S METHOD OF COMPACTION

MATERIAL IMPACT PRESSURE VIBRATION KNEADING

GRAVEL POOR NO GOOD V.GOOD

SAND POOR NO EXCELLENT GOOD
SILT GOOD GOOD POOR EXCELLEN
T
CLAY EXCELLENT V.GOOD NO GOOD
WITH
CONFINEMEN
PROCESS OF SOIL COMPACTION
T

SOIL METHOD EQUIPEMENT

IDENTIFICATION IDENTIFICATION SUITABILITY

SOIL
PREPARATION/LEVELLING
PNEUMATIC TIRED ROLLERS
PRINCIPLE: Compaction by KNEADING action
TYPES: self propelled or towed
WORKING : The kneading action is generated
by the small-tired units usually having two tandem
axles with four to five wheels on each axles.
The wheels oscillate , enabling them to reach into
lower areas for uniform comapaction.
Also the wheels on the rear are so spaced to
travel over surfaces between the front
tires hence covering the surface completely.
These tires can be mounted slightly above ,
out of line with the axle, hence achieving
a complete Weaving action.
Small pneumatics are not suited for big lift embankment comapction
projects.They are used on small- medium size compaction jobs,primarily
on granular bladed base material.
Large-tired rollers are available in sizes varying from 15 to 200 tons
gross weight.
They utilise one to two earth-moving tires on a single axle. The air
pressure in each tire may vary from 80-150 psi (pounds per square inch)
Because of their size and high pressure , they can compact all soil
types to greater depths.
The expense is in propelling these large rollers over the lifts as they
require tractors with large draw-bar pull action.

APPLICATION:
ROADWAY SUBGRADES
AIR-FILLED BASES
EARTH FILLED DAMS
COMPACTING ABILITY OF ROLLERS DEPEND ON:
1. WHEEL LOAD
2. TIRE SIZE
3. TIRE PLY.
4. INFLATION PRESSURE
PNEUMATIC ROLLERS WITH VARIABLE INFLATION PRESSURES
Used when only pneumatic rollers are used to compact soil through all its stages of
density compaction.
First passes over a lift should be made with relatively low pressures to increase
ground coverage and floatation.
As the soil is compacted further the pressure must be increased gradually to its
maximum value for the final pass.
Initially the rollers (constant) had to be stopped to vary pressure or wt. of the ballast
on the rollers
However , availability of rollers with operator controlled pressures doesn’t require for
the machine to be stopped.
VIBROCOMPACTION METHODS
1.Vibrating pile method
2.Compaction pile method

 Vibrator compaction is accomplished by the use of a vibratory pile-

driving apparatus,together with an open-end tubular pile.
 Using a square spacing pattern , the pile is driven into and extracted
from the soil.
 The spacing is usually determined based on project-specific test panel
construction.
 When the driving and extracting phases are accomplished ,densification
of soil occurs both inside and outside the pile
 The best pile configuration used has been an open-end 30-in. pipe of
3/8-in. wall thickness with 4-6 inch wide and ½-in. thick steel bands
spaced 5-10 ft. apart on the outside of the pipe, together with wider
driving and clamping bands at the bottom and top of the pile.
 A crane is used to handle this entire arrangement.
The pile is attached to the vibrator by means of a
hydraulic clamp ;This enables the vertical vibratory
energy produced to travel to the pile material
undiminished , as the pile, hydraulic clamping head,
and vibrating transmisson case act as a unit .

Site work with pressure piles

VIBROCOMPACTION METHODS
 The equipment consists of three main parts: the
vibrator, extension tubes and a supporting crane
Vibro-flotation is the most widely used deep
compaction equipment and extensive experience
has been accumulated over the past 20 years
This method utilizes a vibrator penetrator that has
water jets at both top and the bottom.
It actually settles into the soil by its own weight.
The vibrator is incorporated in the lower end of a
steel probe. The vibrator rotates around the vertical
axis to generate horizontal vibration amplitude.
Vibrator diameters are in the range of 350 to 450
mm and the length is about 3 - 5 m, including a
special flexible coupling, which connects the vibrator
with the extension tube.
The vibroflot is slowly lowered to the bottom of
the soil layer and then gradually withdrawn in 0.5-
1.0 m stages. The length of time spent at each
compaction level depends on the soil type and the
required degree of compaction. Generally, the finer
the soil, the longer the time required achieving the
same degree of compaction. In order to facilitate
penetration and withdrawal of the equipment,
water jetting is utilised with a water pressure of up
to 0.8 MPa and flow rates of up to 3000 l/min. The
water jetting transports the fine soil particles to the
ground surface and by replacing the fines with
coarse material, well-compacted soil columns are
obtained.
This method is with greater spacing patterns than
the vibrating pile method and is much more
efficient for finer granular formations.
DYNAMIC COMPACTION METHOD
The weight is attached to a single hoist line
During the drop the , the hoist drum to which line is attached to is allowed to free
spool, releasing the line.
When heavier weights are used .specially designed dropping machines are
required.
Disadvantage : vibrations can travel long distances.

The densification technique of repeatedly dropping

a heavy weight onto to ground surface is commonly
referred to as dynamic compaction
Heavy tamping , impact densification,dynamic
consolidation,pounding and dynamic
precompression.
For either a natural soil deposit or a placed fill,the
method can produce densification upto depths
greater than 35 ft.
Most projects have drop weights (6-30 tons) and
dropped from ht.s of 30-75 ft.