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Non-Nuclear Moisture Content and Density Determination
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2024-06-28
[PDF-3.04 MB]
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Edition:FINAL (1/21-6/23)
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Abstract:Adequate soil compaction is important for the stability and safety of structures and transportation infrastructure. Thus, methods utilized to obtain properties that control the quality of compaction in the field are essential to ensure proper construction. The most common method to measure these properties in the field is the Nuclear Density Gauge. Moisture content and density results are obtained using the Nuclear Density Gauge in one to four minutes. However, this method requires specialized training and strict storage requirements in addition to licensing and certification, due to the radioactive nature of the device. A photogrammetry-based method to determine total density and total unit weight soil properties by volume estimation combined with separate soil weight measurements is presented herein. This method includes a photogrammetric analysis, using the Photomodeler software, on photographs obtained from an uncalibrated regular mobile phone camera. To validate this method, the images were obtained of a circular excavation dug in compacted soil. The image acquisition process took less than five minutes. The Photomodeler processing time took approximately 15 minutes to develop a three-dimensional model and volume of the excavated hole. The results obtained with this analysis method were compared with in-situ results obtained from the Troxler nuclear density gauge, sand cone, and the Humboldt electrical density gauge. Based on the obtained results, the photogrammetric method is capable of providing similar results to the nuclear density gauge and the sand cone (within four pcf for total unit weight).
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