Enter the sample’s dry mass and the weighings of each sieve in the stack. The calculator draws the grain size distribution curve, reads $D_{10}$ , $D_{30}$ and $D_{60}$ on it, and works out the coefficients of uniformity and curvature and how much of the sample is gravel, sand and fines. It follows ASTM D6913, and it’s free and needs no account.

Calculator · ASTM D6913

The sample's dry mass (g)

The test's, before sieving. Every percentage is taken over this mass, as the standard sets.

The sieve stack

From the coarsest sieve to the finest. The empty sieve is the clean instrument with its base; the full one, the same after the test. What each retained is the difference.

Sieve	Opening(mm)	Empty sieve(g)	Sieve with what it retained(g)
2"
3/2"
1"
3/4"
1/2"
3/8"
#4
#8
#10
#16
#30
#50
#100
#200
Pan

0.7 % passes the #200. It's within the 10 % sieving resolves, but it's still worth confirming with a sedimentation that the grading is complete.
Cc = 0.05, outside the 1 to 3 of a good grading: the curve has a step, a jump from one size to another that makes the material hard to work with in practice.

Grading curve

With 15 sieves and 3273.1 g of dry sample, the curve runs from 50.8 mm to 0 mm. What was retained adds up to 3271.4 g against the 3273.1 g to start with: a difference of 1.7 g, 0.05 % of the sample. D10 = 0.298 mm, D30 = 0.548 mm and D60 = 20.53 mm, hence Cu = 68.8 and Cc = 0.05. Gravel is the 57.8 % retained above the #4, sand the 41.5 % between the #4 and the #200, and fines the 0.7 % passing the #200

The test's result

Quantity	Value
Total mass retainedthe sum of what each sieve retained	3271.4g
Mass balanceinitial mass − mass retained	1.7g
Imbalanceover the initial mass	0.052%
Gravelcumulative retained on the #4	57.8%
Sandpassing the #4 − passing the #200	41.5%
Finespassing the #200	0.7%
D10the opening with 10 % passing	0.298mm
D30the opening with 30 % passing	0.548mm
D60the opening with 60 % passing	20.53mm
CuD60 / D10	68.80
CcD30² / (D10 · D60)	0.049

This calculator is offered for information and technical support. It doesn't replace professional judgment or the reviews due, and its use is the user's responsibility.

How it calculates

The mass a sieve retained, $M_{r,i}$ , is the sieve with its soil minus the clean sieve. The calculator sorts the sieves from the largest opening to the smallest and takes every percentage over the sample’s initial dry mass, $M_D$ , as ASTM D6913 does:

R_i = \frac{M_{r,i}}{M_D} \times 100, \qquad C_i = \sum_{k=1}^{i} R_k, \qquad P_i = 100 - C_i

$R_i$ is the percent retained on sieve $i$ , $C_i$ the cumulative percent retained, and $P_i$ the percent passing. The sum of what the sieves retained is a check against $M_D$ : the calculator shows the difference as the mass balance and warns when it’s over 1 % of the sample.

$D_{10}$ , $D_{30}$ and $D_{60}$ are the openings at which the curve crosses 10, 30 and 60 % passing. Between the two sieves around each value, the calculator interpolates on the logarithm of the opening, the scale the curve is drawn on:

\log D_x = \log D_a + \frac{x - P_a}{P_b - P_a}\,(\log D_b - \log D_a)

The calculator never extrapolates. A diameter the curve doesn’t reach stays blank, with a note on what it takes to read it: a hydrometer analysis below the finest sieve, or a larger sieve above the coarsest. With the three diameters:

C_u = \frac{D_{60}}{D_{10}}, \qquad C_c = \frac{D_{30}^2}{D_{10}\,D_{60}}

Gravel is what the No. 4 sieve (4.75 mm) and those above it retained, sand what passes the No. 4 and stays on the No. 200 (0.075 mm), and fines what passes the No. 200. ASTM D6913, the sieve analysis standard for soils, also takes its percentages over the dry mass.

The full procedure, equipment and report are in the Academy lesson: Sieve analysis of soil.

How to use it

Enter the sample’s dry mass before sieving, in grams.
For each sieve, from the coarsest down to the pan, enter the mass of the clean sieve and of the sieve with what it retained. The table comes with fourteen sieves, from 2 in (50.8 mm) to the No. 200, and the pan: change the openings to match your stack, and clear the masses of any sieve you didn’t use.
Read the curve, with the percent passing against the opening on a log scale. The headline figure is the percent passing the No. 200, which tells a coarse soil from a fine one, and the table gives the mass balance, the gravel, sand and fines, and $D_{10}$ , $D_{30}$ , $D_{60}$ , $C_u$ and $C_c$ .

Restore the example brings back the worked example. With the fines, $C_u$ and $C_c$ , the USCS classification calculator gives the soil’s group.

Frequently asked questions

How do you calculate the percent passing in a sieve analysis?

Divide the mass retained on each sieve by the sample’s dry mass, add those percentages from the top sieve down, and subtract the running total from 100. The cumulative percent retained on a sieve counts what stayed on it and on every sieve above it.

What does the No. 200 sieve mean?

It’s the sieve with a 0.075 mm opening, where sand ends and the fines, silt and clay, begin. The percent passing it makes the first split of the USCS: with 50 % or more passing, the soil is fine-grained. Sieving can’t sort the particles below that size, and the hydrometer analysis does.

What are the coefficients of uniformity and curvature?

$C_u = D_{60}/D_{10}$ measures how wide the range of sizes is, and $C_c = D_{30}^2/(D_{10}\,D_{60})$ whether the curve runs smoothly or has a gap. Under the USCS, a gravel is well graded with $C_u \ge 4$ and a sand with $C_u \ge 6$ , both with $C_c$ from 1 to 3.

Which standard covers sieve analysis?

This calculator follows ASTM D6913, which covers the particle size distribution of soils by sieving; ASTM C136 is its counterpart for fine and coarse aggregates. Both take each percentage over the sample’s dry mass, as this calculator does.

Why don’t the retained masses add up to the sample?

Some soil always stays in the mesh or is lost as dust, so the sum usually comes out a little under the starting mass. The calculator shows the difference and warns when it’s over 1 % of the sample. A sum above the starting mass points to a weighing error.

Sieve analysis calculator: grain size distribution curve