Optimizing Soil Compaction Under Real-World Conditions and the Impact of Soil Moisture on Rammer Performance

Compaction is a critical activity in construction projects, especially for facilities and underground utility projects, where commonly rammers are configured with appropriate tamping widths.Achieving an effective compaction rate according to project specifications sometimes requires a significant amount of energy and resources, and for that reason, it is necessary to optimize the soil moisture and minimize the number of passes.One effective strategy is to follow the Modified Proctor Test (MPT) guidelines, which determine the optimal moisture content (OMC) and maximum dry density (MDD).This study proposed a compaction method to optimize soil compaction under real-world conditions using various rammer models-Masalta MR68H, Wacker Neuson BS60-2i, Weber SRV660, and Atlas Copco LT6005-and each of them can be tailored to specific project requirements.The optimal soil moisture content determined by the MPT was used as a reference, and it was managed during compaction.Each rammer was operated for seven passes in a trench, with soil moisture of the refill material measured before and after the compaction, also the dry density was measured with the use of a density gauge.Other variables were also measured, such as the time spent per pass and total fuel consumption.Afterward, based on the actual soil moisture levels encountered during field operations, loyalty curves (LC) were developed to evaluate the rammers efficiency.Each rammer performed good results, for example, the Atlas Copco LT6005 achieved high compaction levels across varying moisture conditions in diverse soil conditions.The Masalta rammer MR68H had a faster operational speed, and Weber SRV660 achieved a positive compaction curve.As for the Wacker Neuson BS60-2i machine, it coped with high moisture levels, which is why the performance decreased.All rammers accomplished at least 85% compaction on the second pass, and one Atlas Copco LT6005 and Weber SRV660 reached 90% after the fifth pass, and the other Atlas Copco LT6005 up to 95%.The rammers demonstrated their potential to accomplish compaction tasks.These survey data present the basic information necessary to select suitable compaction equipment and adopt the compaction procedures customized to the specific requirements of the project in order to bring about the most efficient compaction outcomes.The test confirmed the complexity of managing ideal OMC in the soil in real operations; however, the strategy effectively oriented the compaction technique optimizing the process.