Foreword

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This document was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 182, Geotechnics, in collaboration with the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) Technical Committee CEN/TC 341, Geotechnical investigation and testing, in accordance with the Agreement on technical cooperation between ISO and CEN (Vienna Agreement).

A list of all parts in the ISO 16383 series can be found on the ISO website.

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Introduction

This document covers areas in the international field of geotechnical engineering never previously standardized internationally. It is intended that this document presents broad good practice throughout the world and significant differences with national documents is not anticipated. It is based on international practice (see Reference [1]).

1 Scope

This document specifies a method of determining the water content of rocks.

This document is applicable to the laboratory determination of the water content of a rock test specimen by oven-drying within the scope of geotechnical investigations. The oven-drying method is the definitive procedure used in usual laboratory practice.

The practical procedure for determining the water content of a rock is to determine the mass loss on drying the test specimen to a constant mass in a drying oven controlled at a given temperature. The mass loss is assumed to be due to free water and is referenced to the remaining dry mass of the test specimen.

NOTE This document fulfils the requirements of the determination of water content of rock for geotechnical investigation and testing according to EN 1997-2.

2 Normative references

3 Terms and definitions

4 Symbols

5 Equipment

5.1 General

5.2 Drying oven

5.3 Thermometer or thermocouple device

5.4 Balance, with a maximum permissible error of 0,01 g or 0,1 % of the weighted mass, whichever is greatest.

5.5 Hygrometer, with a maximum permissible error of 5 % and a resolution of 1 %.

5.6 Test specimen containers

5.7 Desiccator, if used, shall be of suitable size and contain dry, self-indicating desiccant such as silica gel.

6 Test procedure

6.1 General

6.2 Specimen size requirements

6.3 Test specimen preparation

6.4 Test execution

7 Test results

8 Test report

Bibliography

ISO 16383-1:2025

Geotechnical investigation and testing. Laboratory testing of rock — - Part 1: Determination of water content

Current

Published:

27 Jun 2025