Ahmed Hani Salem Al-Omari Civil Engineering

431900

Abstract:

When we say CBR we mean by that California Bearing Test and this test is an empirical test
but it's widely used in evaluating the strength of the compacting soil and layers thickness. ,
and is used in pavement design for both roads and airfields. The experts call it CBR refer to
California, USA.

Introduction:

Before the World War II the basic testing procedure employed in the determination of the
CBR was developed by the California Division of Highways and was used by that agency in
the design of flexible pavements.

This test is basically a penetration test, in which the load is required to cause a plunger of a
standard size to penetrate a specimen of soil at a standard rate is measured.

Objective:

To determine the California bearing ratio (CBR) of pavement sub grade, sub base, and
base/coarse materials from laboratory compacted specimens, which indicates the strength of
the soil used in any project.

Equipments & Apparatus:

o Cylindrical mould with inside diameter 152 mm and height 178 mm, provided with a
detachable extension collar 50 mm height and a detachable perforated base plate 10mm
thick.
o Compaction rammer, either 24.4 N ( 5.5 Ib ) dropped from 305 mm (12 in ) height or
44.5 N ( 10 Ib ) dropped from 457 mm ( 18 in ) height as designated by instructor.
o Expansion-measuring apparatus consisting of perforated plate with adjustable stem,
tripod, and dial gauge reading to 0.01 mm.
o Compaction machine equipped with CBR penetration piston ( 49.53 mm diam. With
cross-sectional area of 19.35 cm2 ) and capable of a penetration rate of 1.3 mm/min
( 0.05 in/min ).
o Miscellaneous apparatus, such as a mixing bowl, straight edge, scales soaking tank or
pan, drying oven, filter paper and containers.
o 150 mm diameter course filter paper.
Ahmed Hani Salem Al-Omari Civil Engineering
431900

Procedure:

o Prepare 36 kg (for 3 samples) of an air dried soil, passes the (3/4 ") sieve. The materials
must pass the (3/4) sieve If not it has to be replaced by an equivalent quantity passing
sieve # 19 mm and retained on sieve # 4.
o Determine the natural moisture content by oven dry about 200 g of the soil.
o Add the required amount of water so that the moisture content of the sample is within ±
0.5 % of the optimum moisture content.
o Weight the empty mold and the filled mould
o Extension collar and perforated base plate and put a 150 mm diam. Course filter paper
on the top of the spacer disc.
o Compact the sample in 3 layers by 10 blows/layer using a specified hammer and height
of drop.
o Place the mould assembly with the surcharge weights on the penetration test machine.
o Seat the penetration piston at the specimen with the smallest possible load, but in no
case in excess of 4 kg so that full contact of the piston on the sample is established.
o Set the stress and strain dial gauge to read zero. Apply the load on the piston so that the
penetration rate is about 0.25 mm/min.
o Record the load readings at penetrations of 0.25, 5 and 7.5 mm.
o Test results are plotted in the form of a load-penetration diagram by drawing curve
through the experimental points. Usually the curve will be convex upwards, but
sometimes the initial part of the curve is concave upwards and over this section, a
correction becomes necessary. The correction consists of drawing a tangent to the curve
at its steepest slope and producing it back to cut the penetration scale for the corrected
curve.
o Penetrations of 2. 5mm and 5mm are used for calculating the CBR value. From the test
curve, with corrected penetration scale if appropriate, read off the forces corresponding
to 2.5mm and 5mm penetration. Express these as a percentage of the standard forces at
these penetrations. Take the higher percentage as the CBR value.

Data & Analysis:

o We have 3 layers.
o The area = 1925.778 mm2.
o Soil Description: Dark Red Passes the 3/4" sieve.
o Hammer Weight = 44.5 N.
o Drop Height = 457 mm.
o Optimum Moisture Content = 15 %.
 ( 3 ) Layers Mould Mould Mould --- --- ---
2
Area = 1925.778 mm (1) (2) (3)

No. Of Blows Per Layer 10 25 55 --- --- ---

Empty Mold Weight 14.935 14.826 14.821 --- --- ---

( Kg )

Weight Of mold + Soil 18.392 18.562 18.842 --- --- ---

( Kg )

Weight Of Soil ( Kg ) 3.457 3.736 4.021 --- --- ---

Required Weight of Water to be 892 892 892 --- --- ---

Added

Bulk Density of soil = 1.63 1.75 1.89 --- --- ---

3
( Wt. soil / 2123 ) Mg/cm

Molded Dry Density = 1.42 1.52 1.64 --- --- ---

(100* Bulk /(100+Optimum Moist.)
Penetration Of Plunger Load Load Load stress stress stress
( mm ) ( KN ) ( KN ) ( KN ) (1) (2) (3)
0.25 0.236 0.851 1.126 0.123 0.442 0.585

0.50 0.400 1.334 1.527 0.208 0.693 0.793

0.75 0.520 1.700 1.805 0.270 0.883 0.937

1.00 0.631 1.978 2.027 0.328 1.027 1.053

1.25 0.734 2.175 2.200 0.381 1.129 1.142

1.50 0.822 2.342 2.322 0.427 1.216 1.206

1.75 0.909 2.528 2.413 0.472 1.313 1.253

2.00 0.988 2.662 2.492 0.513 1.382 1.294

2.25 1.062 2.797 2.557 0.551 1.452 1.328

2.50 1.132 2.914 2.612 0.588 1.5132 1.356

2.75 1.187 3.025 2.668 0.616 1.571 1.385

3.00 1.255 3.125 2.717 0.652 1.623 1.411

3.25 1.313 3.209 2.758 0.682 1.666 1.432

3.50 1.369 3.288 2.794 0.711 1.707 1.451

3.75 1.421 3.362 2.832 0.738 1.746 1.471

4.00 1.471 3.424 2.861 0.764 1.778 1.486

4.25 1.521 3.490 2.884 0.790 1.812 1.498

4.50 1.565 3.546 2.905 0.813 1.841 1.508

4.75 1.614 3.603 2.928 0.838 1.870 1.520

5.00 1.658 3.648 2.949 0.861 1.894 1.531

5.25 1.702 3.695 2.969 0.884 1.919 1.542

5.50 1.746 3.736 2.990 0.907 1.940 1.553

5.75 1.787 3.774 3.007 0.928 1.960 1.561

6.00 1.831 3.812 3.025 0.951 1.979 1.571

6.25 1.869 3.884 3.042 0.971 2.017 1.580

6.50 1.910 3.879 3.057 0.992 2.014 1.587

6.75 1.951 3.966 3.066 1.013 2.059 1.592

7.00 1.986 3.941 3.074 1.031 2.046 1.596

7.25 2.024 3.961 3.089 1.051 2.057 1.604

7.5 2.059 3.991 3.095 1.069 2.072 1.607

Ahmed Hani Salem Al-Omari Civil Engineering
431900
Ahmed Hani Salem Al-Omari Civil Engineering
431900
 Ahmed Hani Salem Al-Omari Civil Engineering
431900

Sample of Calculation:
For 10 Blows Mold: For 25 Blows Mold:

CBR 2.5 = ( 1.132 * 1000 ) / ( 9.806 * 1364 ) * 100 % CBR 2.5 = ( 2.914 * 1000 ) / ( 9.806 * 1364 ) * 100 %
= 8.46 % = 21.79 %
CBR 5 = ( 1.658 * 1000 ) / ( 9.806 * 2045 ) * 100 % CBR 5 = ( 3.648 * 1000 ) / ( 9.806 * 2045 ) * 100 %
= 8.27 % = 18.19 %

For 55 Blows Mold:

CBR 2.5 = ( 2.612 * 1000 ) / ( 9.806 * 1364 ) * 100 %

= 19.53 %
CBR 5 = ( 2.949 * 1000 ) / ( 9.806 * 2045 ) * 100 %
= 14.71 %

Figure 4

Figure 5
Ahmed Hani Salem Al-Omari
Civil Engineering
431900

Discussion & Conclusion:

 From Fig, 4 we can see that the relation between the CBR after corrected & the Dry density
as molded is not linear and it's change from time to another ( which the CBR was increase at
the beginning when the Dry density increase but then the curve goes down were the CBR
decrease when the dry density increase.

As we can see in the following relation for CBR %:

CBR % = (unit load at 2.5 mm penetration (Mpa) / 6.9 Mpa ) * 100

CBR % = (load at 2.5 mm penetration (Kg) / 1364 Kg ) * 100

 That there is no deferent in the results from the two relations because the only one
deference is the unit we use.

We made three molds to make sure that our work is definitely correct, as we saw that the
first one we compact it at 10 blows then the 2nd at 25 blows and finally the 3rd at 55 blows, and
I see that one mold is not enough to indicate the results we want.

We learned how to calculate the CBR to indicate the strength of the soil that we used.
Usually the value at 2.5 mm is greater than at 5.0 mm. In the figure there will be concave up at
the middle of it and that is return because of the angularity of the aggregate.

The CBR was developed in California in the 1930's and makes no attempt to determine any
of the standard soil properties such as density.

To make the correction for the data it can be calculated by assuming that the maximum slope
of the figure is the reference line for all the points.

If the soil failed it can still used by to ways:

(A) Add cement (expensive).
(B) Add selected material.

The CBR test should be used with soil at the calculated equilibrium moisture content
although in the United States it is usual for sample to be soaked for four days prior to testing.
CPR test help you use the material in the best way for the layers of roads, high way and air
port. If the final results were between (0-7) then the aggregate of this experiment is very poor
sub graded.