1.1This practice covers a procedure for using a thin-walled metal tube to recover intact soil samples suitable for laboratory tests of engineering properties, such as strength, compressibility, permeability, and density. This practice provides guidance on proper sampling equipment, procedures, and sample quality evaluation that are used to obtain intact samples suitable for laboratory testing.

1.2This practice is limited to fine-grained soils that can be penetrated by the thin-walled tube. This sampling method is not recommended for sampling soils containing coarse sand, gravel, or larger size soil particles, cemented, or very hard soils. Other soil samplers may be used for sampling these soil types. Such samplers include driven split barrel samplers and soil coring devices (Test Methods D1586, D3550, and Practice D6151). For information on appropriate use of other soil samplers refer to Practice D6169.

1.3This practice is often used in conjunction with rotary drilling (Practice D1452 and Guides D5783 and D6286) or hollow-stem augers (Practice D6151). Subsurface geotechnical explorations should be reported in accordance with Practice D5434. This practice discusses some aspects of sample preservation after the sampling event. For more information on preservation and transportation process of soil samples, consult Practice D4220.

1.4This practice may not address special considerations for environmental or marine sampling; consult Practices D6169 and D3213 for information on sampling for environmental and marine explorations.

1.5Thin-walled tubes meeting requirements of 6.3 can also be used in piston samplers, or inner liners of double tube push or rotary-type soil core samplers (Pitcher barrel, Practice D6169). Piston samplers in Practice D6519 use thin-walled tubes.

1.6All observed and calculated values shall conform to the guidelines for significant digits and rounding established in Practice D6026, unless superseded by this standard.

1.7This practice offers a set of instructions for performing one or more specific operations. This document cannot replace education or experience and should be used in conjunction with professional judgment. Not all aspects of this practice may be applicable in all circumstances. This ASTM standard is not intended to represent or replace the standard of care by which the adequacy of a given professional service must be judged, nor should this document be applied without consideration of a project’s many unique aspects. The word “Standard” in the title of this document means only that the document has been approved through the ASTM consensus process.

1.8The values stated in either inch-pound units or SI units presented in brackets are to be regarded separately as standard. The values stated in each system may not be exact equivalents; therefore, each system shall be used independently of the other. Combining values from the two systems may result in non-conformance with the standard.

1.9This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.