Revised Rapid Soils Analysis Kit (RSAK) - Wet Methodology
Abstract
ERDC research on crater formation from detonation of improvised explosive devices identified the significance of soil type on crater shape and size. Military Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) teams required an expedient means of classifying soil from small field samples, according to the Unified Soil Classification System, to help identify characteristics of buried explosives. The existing Rapid Soils Analysis Kit (RSAK), developed at ERDC, was modified to shrink its cube volume, improve its accuracy, and adapt it to the EOD mission. As such the RSAK was changed from a dry, pulverization-based (D-RSAK) system to a wet, wash-based (W-RSAK) system similar to that used in a commercial laboratory to improve accuracy of determining fines content. Modifications were focused on increasing speed and accuracy from the original D-RSAK. This report presents comparisons of classification results on 14 different soil types by both the traditional laboratory, dry-based and wet-based systems to demonstrate the strengths and weaknesses of the new WRSAK procedure. The kit in its current configuration with the wet process was demonstrated to significantly improve classification estimations. Revised software to process the data obtained from the W-RSAK equipment was developed using Matlab and Android platforms to enable deployment on multiple software platforms.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2018
- Accession Number
- AD1046485
Entities
People
- David R. Daily
- Ernest Iv S. Berney
- Naveen B. Ganesh
Organizations
- Engineer Research and Development Center