MATERIAL

CHARACTERSTICS
DEPARTMENT :CIVIL ENGINEERING

CBR
California bearing ratio is defined as
the ratio (expressed as percentage)
between the load sustained by the
soil sample at a specified
penetration of a standard plunger
(50 mm diameter) and the load
sustained by the standard crushed
stones at the same penetration.

Normally 3 specimens each of about 7 kg must be compacted so that their

compacted densities range from 95% to 100% generally with 10, 30 and 65
blows.
Weigh of empty mould
Add water to the first specimen (compact it in five layer by giving 10 blows
per layer)
After compaction, remove the collar and level the surface.
Take sample for determination of moisture content.
Weight of mould + compacted specimen.
Place the mold in the soaking tank for four days (ignore this step in case
of unsoakedCBR.
Take other samples and apply different blows and repeat the whole
process.
After four days, measure the swell reading and find %age swell.
Remove the mould from the tank and allow water to drain.
Then place the specimen under the penetration piston and place surcharge
load of 10lb.
Apply the load and note the penetration load values.
Draw the graphs between the penetration (in) and penetration load (in)
and find the value ofCBR.

CBR test procedure

Points regarding CBR

The stronger the subgrade (the higher the CBR reading ) the
less thick it is necessary to design and construct the road
pavement, this gives a considerable cost saving.
Presence of coarse grained material gives poor results .
Material passing through 20 mm sieve only is used in the
test
Conversely if CBR testing indicates the subgrade is weak (a
low CBR reading) we must construct a suitable thicker road
pavement to spread the wheel load over a greater area of
the weak subgrade in order that the weak subgrade material
is not deformed, causing the road pavement to fail.

Modulus of Subgrade reaction of soil

Modulus of subgrade reaction is the reaction pressure
sustained by the soil sample under a rigid plate of
standard diameter per unit settlement measured at a
specified pressure or settlement.

P=K

Procedure to find modulus of subgrade reaction

Prepare the test site and remove the loose material so that 75 cm
diameter plate rests horizontally in full contact with the soil subgrade.
Place the plate accurately and then apply a seating load equivalent
to a pressure of 0.07 kg/cm 2 and release it after few seconds.
The settlement dial readings are adjusted to zero for zero load.
A load is applied by means of the jack, sufficient to cause an
average settlement of about 0.25 mm. When there is no perceptible
increase in settlement or when the rate of settlement is less than
0.025 mm per minute, the load dial reading and the settlement dial
readings are noted.

Procedure to find modulus of subgrade

reaction

The average of the three or four settlement dial readings is

taken as the average settlement of the plate corresponding
to the applied load.
The load is increased till the average settlement increased
to a further amount of about 0.25 mm and the load and the
average settlement readings are noted as before.

9214 1979 is repeated until the settlement is about 1.75

TheIS procedure
mm

Blending of aggregates
A "blend" is a mixture of two or more different things or substances
Grading:
The process that determine the particle-size distribution of a
representative sample of the aggregate
Bleanding:
The process of combining aggregates of various sizes to obtain a
specified gradation
Reasons for blending:
Obtain desirable gradation
Where single natural or quarried material not enough
Economical to combine natural and process materials
Increase / Decrease permeability

Soil stabilization
Soil stabilization is the process which is used to improve the
engineering properties of the soil and thus making it more
stable. Soil stabilization is required when the soil available
for construction is not suitable for the intended purpose. It
includes compaction, preconsolidation, drainage and many
other such processes.

WHY to stabilize soil

It is used to increase the bearing capacity of foundation soils.
It helps to decrease the void ratio of the soil.
Stabilization of soil increases the shear strength of soil.

METHODS OF SOIL STABILIZATION

Cement stabilization
Lime stabilization
Chemical stabilization
Bituminous stabilization
Grouting concrete stabilization
Geotextile stabilization
Reinforced earth stabilization

CEMENT
STABILIZATION
Cement stabilizationof
soil is done by mixing pulverized soil and
Portland cement with water and compacting the mix to attain a strong
material. The material obtained by mixing soil and cement is known as
soil-cement. The soil cement becomes a hard and durable structural
material as the cement hydrates and develops strength.
Cement stabilization is done while the compaction process is
Disadvantages
Advantages
continuing.

It is widely available.

It is highly durable

Soil cement reduces the swelling characteristics of the soil.

It is commonly used for stabilizing sandy and other low

plasticity soils.

Cracks may form in soil cement.

It is harmful for environment.

It requires extra labor.

The quantity of water must be sufficient for hydration of

cement and making the mixture workable.

LIME STABILIZATION
Lime stabilization is not effective for sandy soils. However these
soils can be stabilized with clay, fly ash etc which serve as
hydraulically reactive ingredients. The ratio of fly ash to lime
generally varies in between 3 to 5. The fly ash is used is about 10
Advantagesto 20% of the soil weight.
Disadvantages

Soil becomes more workable.

Strength is generally improved.

Lime stabilization increases the compressive strength

sometimes as high as 60 times.

It is effective for soils.

Lime is produced by burning of lime stone in kilns, so that it is

harmful for environment.

It needs more cost to burnt lime stone.

It is not effective for sandy soils.

chemical stabilization
In this soil is stabilized by adding different chemicals. The
main advantage of chemical stabilization is that setting time
and curing time can be controlled. Chemical stabilization is
however generally more expensive than other types of
stabilization.

 Geosynthetics are synthetic products used to stabilize

terrain. They are generally polymeric products used to
solve civil engineering problems. This includes eight main
product categories:
geotextiles
geogrids
geonets
geomembranes
geosynthetic clay liners
geofoam
geocells and geocomposites

List of Indian codes for practice on GEOSYNTHETICS

IS 13321 (part-1)-92 :Glossary of terms for geosynthetics :
materials & properties.
IS 13325-92: Test method for determination of tensile properties of
extruded polymer grids using wide strip methods.
IS 13326 (part-1)-92 :Method of test for evaluation of interference
friction between geosynthetics and soil by modified direct shear
method.

Geotextile

Functions of geosynthetics as stabilizers

As a stabilizer
The natural soil on which thegeotextile is placed is usually a wet, soft, compressible
material, exhibiting very little strength.
By acting asa separator, the geotextile allows water from the soft natural soil to pass
from this soil into a free-drainingconstruction soil, which in turn allows consolidation of
the natural soil to take place.

As a result of the consolidation process, there is a strength gain in the natural soil,
which then provides an adequate foundationfor construction to take place.
As a reinforcing agent

Reinforcement the strength characteristics (stressstrain) of the geotextile provide

added strength to the whole system.

 Geocells (also known as Cellular Confinement Systems)

are three-dimensional honeycombed cellular structures
that form a confinement system when infilled with
compacted soil.
Geotextiles form one of the two largest groups of
geosynthetics. They are textiles consisting of synthetic
fibers rather than natural ones such as cotton, wool, or
silk.

outdoor soil and rock construction. Most

factories are ISO
9000 certified and have
Advantages
their own in-house quality programs as
well.
The low thickness of geosynthetics, as
compared to their natural soil counterparts,
is an advantage insofar as light weight on
the subgrade, less airspace used, and
avoidance of quarried sand, gravel, and
clay soil materials.
The ease of geosynthetic installation is
significant in comparison to thick soil layers
(sands, gravels, or clays) requiring large
earthmoving equipment.
Design methods are currently available
from many publication sources as well as
universities which teach stand-alone
courses in geosynthetics or have
integrated geosynthetics in traditional
geotechnical, geoenvironmental, and
hydraulic engineering courses.

Disadvantages

Long-term performance of the particular

formulated resin being used to make the
geosynthetic must be assured by using
proper additives including antioxidants,
ultraviolet screeners, and fillers.
The exposed lifetime of geosynthetics, being
polymeric, is less than unexposed as when
they are soil backfilled.
Clogging of geotextiles, geonets, geopipe
and/or geocomposites is a challenging
design for certain soil types or unusual
situations. For example, loess soils, fine
cohesionless silts, highly turbid liquids, and
microorganism laden liquids (farm runoff)
are troublesome and generally require
specialized testing evaluations.
Handling, storage, and installation must be
assured by careful quality control and quality
assurance about which much has been
written.

Polymer and Rubber modified bitumen

Bitumen is an oil based substance. It is a semi-solid hydrocarbon
product produced by removing the lighter fractions (such as
liquid petroleum gas, petrol and diesel) from heavy crude oil
during the refining process. As such, it is correctly known as
refined bitumen.

Resilient Modulus Ratio (MRR)

Resilient Modulus, MR is a ratio of applied stress to

recoverable resultant (horizontal) strain. The resilient
modulus test is basically a repetitive load test using the
stress distribution principles of the indirect tensile test.
Resilient modulus is close to conditions that prevail in the
field since a loading pulse is followed by a rest period. The
loading time and rest period can be varied to represent
different vehicle speed and traffic intensity.
The values of resilient modulus can be used to evaluate the
relative quality of materials as well as to generate input for
pavement design or pavement evaluation and analysis. The
repeated load indirect tensile test for determining resilient
modulus of bituminous mixtures was conducted by applying
compressive loads with a haversine waveform.

Resilient Modulus Ratio (MRR)

The load was applied vertically on the vertical diametral
plane of cylindrical specimen of bituminous concrete.
The resulting horizontal deformation of the specimen
was measured. The loading frequency of 2 Hz inducing
0.25 s loading period and the rest period of 0.45 s were
used. From the instantaneous resilient horizontal
deformations the resilient moduli of PMBC and BC mixes
were calculated at test temperature of 250C using the
equation

Dynamic modulus
Dynamic modulus :
The absolute value of the complex modulus that defines the elastic
properties of a linear viscoelastic material subjected to a sinusoidal
loading, | E*|
Dynamic modulus is Calculated as follows: Dynamic modulus = o/o

complex modulus :
It is a complex number that defines the relationship between stress
and strain for a linear viscoelastic material, E*.

Linear material :
It is a material whose stress to strain ratio is independent of the
loading stress applied.