Material Strength

Subgrade Strength/Stiffness
California Bearing Ratio (CBR)
Resistance Value (R-Value)
Resilient Modulus (M
R
)
Modulus of Subgrade Reaction (K)

California Bearing Ratio (CBR)
CBR: California Bearing Ratio Test.
Developed by The California State Highways
Department in 1930.
Resistance of the material to uniaxial
penetration.
Measure of soil shear strength relative to
standard crushed stone material.
Field and laboratory test.

California Bearing Ratio (CBR)
Used in Pavement Design
Performed on unbound layers:
Subgrade layer,
Subbase layer
base layer.


California Bearing Ratio (CBR)
Load a piston (area = 3 in
2
) at
a constant rate (0.05 in/min)
Record Load every 0.1 in
penetration
Total penetration not to
exceed 0.5 in.
Draw Load-Penetration
Curve.
CBR Test Equipment
Soaking Samples for 4 days
measure swelling and CBR
Typical Testing Machine
Surcharge
Weights
Surcharge weights are added
during testing and soaking to:
Simulate the weight of
pavement.
Prevent heaving up
around the piston.
Piston
CBR Calculation
|
.
|

\
|
=
Rocks Standard of Stress or Load
Soil of Stress or Load
100 CBR
Calculate CBR at 0.1 in (25 mm) and 0.2 in (50 mm) deformation
then use the Maximum value as the design CBR.
Penetration 0.1 (2.5 mm) 0.2 (5.0 mm)
Load of Standard Rocks (Ib) 3000 4500
Load of Standard Rocks (kN) 13.24 19.96
Stress of Standard Rocks (KPa) 6895 10342
Stress of Standard Rocks (psi) 1000 1500
Loads and Stresses Corresponding to 0.1 and 0.2 inches
Penetration for the Standard Rocks
CBR Curves
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6
Penetration (in)
L
o
a
d

(
I
b
)
Wrong Curve
Standard Curve
Need correction
CBR Curve Correction
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6
Penetration (in)
L
o
a
d

(
I
b
)
0.0 0.1
0.2
Influence of Moisture upon CBR
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6
Moisture Content
C
B
R
Use relevant value of moisture content when assessing soils
under laboratory conditions.
Resistance Value (R-Value)
Developed by California Division of Highways:
1940s
Measures frictional resistance of granular
material to deformation
Uses the Hveem Stabilometer
Tests material in a saturated condition (worst
case scenario

Resistance Value (R-Value)
Stabilometer
P
h

P
v

R-value Test (ASTM D2844)
1 ) 1 )(
5 . 2
(
100
100
2
+
=
h
v
P
P
D
R

P
v
= applied
vertical pressure
(typically 160 psi)
P
h
= transmitted
horizontal pressure
D2 = displacement
of stabilometer
fluid necessary to
increase horizontal
pressure from 5 to
100 psi.


Typical R-Value Ranges
General Soil Type USCS Soil Type R-Value Range
Clean gravels
GW
30 80
GP
Gravels with fines
GM
30 80
GC
Clean sands
SW
10 50
SP
Sands with fines
SM
20 60
SC
Silts and clays
ML 5 20
CL 5 20
OL < 7
MH 5 20
CH 5 20
OH < 7
Resilient Modulus (M
R
)
Measures stiffness of the material under repeated load.



Determines the load carrying capacity of the material.
Used for HMA as well as unbound materials
Uses a repeated load triaxial test.
Used in most modern methods of pavement design.

r
R M
c
o o
3 1
strain e Recoverabl
stress Deviator
= =
o
1

o
3

o
2

o
3

o
1

Triaxial Test Equipment
Inside Rods
Load Cell
Chamber
Soil Specimen
Bottom Platen
Top Platen
Frame
External LVDT
Loading Piston
Cell Pressure Inlet
LVDT Clamp
LVDT
Typical Stress Strain Response During one
Loading Cycle
0.0
5.0
10.0
15.0
20.0
25.0
30.0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5
Ti me (sec)
S
t
r
e
s
s

(
p
s
i
)
0.000
0.004
0.008
0.012
0.016
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5
Ti me (sec)

S
t
r
a
i
n

(
i
n
/
i
n
)
Stress vs. Time
Strain vs. Time
c
p

c
r

Dwell
Loading
Unloading
Resilient Modulus
Animation from University of Tokyo Geotechnical Engineering Lab
2 14 16 2 14 16
load rest
Time
Load
c
r
= AL/L
ASU Advanced Pavement Laboratory
Nonlinear Material Behavior:
Coarse-Grained Soils




Bulk stress: u = o
1
+ o
2
+ o
3

K
1
, K
2
are material constants
K
1
> 0
K
2
0 (stress-stiffening)
log M
R
log u
log M
R
log t
oct
K
1
K
2
2
1
K
R K M u =
Nonlinear Material Behavior:
Fine-Grained Soils



Octahedral shear stress:


K
3
, K
4
are material constants
K
3
> 0
K
4
0 (stress-softening)
K
3
K
4
log M
R
log
t
oct
4
3
K
oct
R K M t =
Combined Stress Dependence of M
R

(NCHRP 1-37A)
Bulk (Confining) Stress
Stiffening term (k
2
> 0)
Dominates for coarse granular
soils (base, subbase)
Shear (Deviatoric) Stress
Softening Term (k
3
< 0)
Dominates for fine-grained
soils (subgrade)
3 2
1
1
k
a
oct
k
a
a R
P P
p k M
|
|
.
|

\
|
+
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
t u
Effect of Stress on M
R

log M
R
log u
log M
R
log t
oct
Bulk Stress| Stiffening Shear Stress| Softening
u = o
1
+ o
2
+ o
3
t
oct
= Octahedral shear stress
u = I = Bulk stress = First
stress invariant
Coarse Materials
Fine Materials
Effect of Moisture/Density on M
R

log M
R
S
dry
log M
R
Moisture| Softening Density| Stiffening
Correlations
Conversions between CBR, R-value, M
R
Important points:
No direct correlation
Each test measures a fundamentally different property
Developed correlations are only for limited data sets
Correlations (CBR M
R
)

( ) CBR M
R
1500 =
Origin: Heukelom and Klomp (1962)
Limitation: Fine-grained non-expansive soils with soaked CBR s 10
( )
64 . 0
2555 CBR M
R
=
Origin: NCHRP 1-37A Mechanistic Design Guide
Limitation: not stated
Units: CBR %
M
R,
psi
Correlations
( )
555
1155 1500
Value R

=
CBR
Origin: HDOT
Limitation: Fine-grained non-expansive soils with soaked CBR s 8
( ) Value R 555 1000 + =
R
M
Origin: 1993 AASHTO Guide
Limitation: Fine-grained non-expansive soils with R s 20
Correlation Example
M
R
vs. R-value for some Washington State soils
M
R
R-Value
50 60 40 30 20 15 10 8 6 5 4 3 2 1.5
1 2 3 4 5 10 15 20 40 60 80 100
100 80 60 40 30 20 15 10 5 4 3 2 1
Poor Medium Good Excellent Subgrade Soil
Category
Unified Soil
Classification
AASHTO Soil
Classification
Mr (ksi)
CBR (%)
R- Value
A-1-b
A-2-7
A-3
A-4
A-5
A-6
A-7-6
CH
MH
CL
ML
SW
GM
GC
GP - GM
GP - GC
GW - GM
GW - GC
GP
GW
SM
SC
SP - SM
SP - SC
SW - SM
SW - SC
SP

A-1-a
A-7-5
A-2-5
A-2-4
A-2-6

M
R
Correlations
w/ I ndex
Properties and
Soil Classification
(NCHRP 1-37A)
Plate Loading Test
Measure supporting power of subgrades,
subases, bases and a complete pavement.
Field test.
Data from the test are applicable for design of
both flexible and rigid pavements.
Results might need some corrections.


Plate Loading Test
Plate Loading Test
Plate Loading Test Schematic
Reaction
Pressure
Gauge
3 Deflection
Dials
Reaction
for Dial
Hydraulic
Jack
30 | Plate
24 | Plate
18 | Plate
Tested Layer
12 | Plate
Reaction
Effect of Plate Size
p = n + m (P/A)
p = Unit load (stress)
n, m =Empirical values obtained by test
P/A = Perimeter over area
n
m
P/A
p
Modulus of Subgrade Reaction (k)
K = modulus of subgrade reaction
P = unit load on the plate (stress) (psi)
A = deflection of the plate (in)

For design use stress P = 10 psi (68.95 kN/m
2
)

P
K =
Required for rigid pavement design.
S
t
r
e
s
s

,

p
s
i

10 psi
A
Deformation, in
Corrections for K
Correction due to saturation (worst case
scenario).
Correction due to bending of the plates.
Correction Due to saturation
u
s
u
s
K K
A
A
=
K
s
= modulus of subgrade reaction corrected for saturation
K
u
= field modulus of subgrade reaction
A
u
/A
s
= ratio of the deflection in the unsaturated and saturated tests
Deformation
S
t
r
e
s
s


10 psi
A
u
A
s
10 psi
S
t
r
e
s
s


Deformation
Saturated
Condition
Field
Condition
Correction due to Bending of the Plates
Some bending of the plates might occur When
materials of high modulus are tested.
Use chart for correction of k for plate bending.
K (pci)
K
corrected
(pci)
Basic Plate Loading Test Types
Deformation
S
t
r
e
s
s


Time
D
e
f
o
r
m
a
t
i
o
n

R
a
t
e


Static Load
Basic Plate Loading Test Types
Deformation
S
t
r
e
s
s


Deformation
S
t
r
e
s
s


Accumulated Plastic
Deformation
Elastic
Rebound
Repeated Load
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