Drive-cylinder method

This test method is used to determine the in situ density of soils that do not contain significant amounts of particles coarser than 4.75 mm and which can be readily retained in the drive cylinder. 

This test method is not recommended for use in organic or friable soils. This test method may not be applicable for soft, highly plastic, non-cohesive, saturated or other soils that are easily deformed, compress during sampling or may not be retained in the drive cylinder. 

The test method involves obtaining a relatively intact soil sample by driving a thin-walled cylinder and the subsequent activities for the determination of in-place density. When sampling or in situ density is required at depth, test Method D 1587 should be used. 

More information regarding the test is given in ASTM D 2937 (2010). 

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Compaction density obtained on site is measured in situ by one of the following methods the sand-cone method, the rubber balloon method, nuclear methods or the drive-cylinder method. The complex impedance method may also be used. 

ASTM D 2937. 2010. Standard test method for density of soil in place by the drive-cylinder method. West Conshohocken, PA ASTM International. 

Soil has a specific gravity from 1.1 to 1.7, which is measured as described in ASTM Test Method for Density of Soil in Place by the Drive-Cylinder Method (D 2937). 

It is a great pleasure to first of all mention my indebtedness to Karoly Kelemen and Berta Knoll (my wife), who entered my laboratory as students and were my only coworkers in the early 1950s when we learned to instill the glass-cylinder-seeking drive into the cortex of rats. This method allowed us to study the nature of an acquired drive and catalyzed my understanding of the crucial importance of this mechanism in the development of social life on earth. 

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