Unbound Material

Engr. Jefferson R. Vallente Jr.

Asst. Instructor , Civil Engineering Department
Soil Engineering for Highway Design

• Review Concepts:
– Soil Characteristics
• Origin and Formation of Soils
• Surface Texture
• Classification of Soils for Highway Use
» AASHTO
» USCS
• Basic Engineering Properties of Soils
– Phase Relations
– Atterberg Limit
– Basic Engineering Properties of Soils
Soil Engineering for Highway Design

• Soil Survey for Highway Construction

– Geophysical Methods of Soil Exploration
• Resistivity method
• Seismic method
• Soil Compaction
– Optimum Moisture Content
– Field Compaction Procedures and Equipment
• Special Soil Test for Pavement Design
– California Bearing Ratio (CBR) Test
– Hveem Stabilometer Test
 Soil Characteristics: Origin and
Formation of Soils
• Soil, loose mass
of mineral and
organic materials
that cover the
solid crust of
granitic and
basaltic rocks of
the earth.
• Formed through
weathering
– Mechanical
Weathering
– Chemical
Weathering
(e.g. Mangima,
Bukidnon)

(e.g. Most rivers and

beaches)
 Surface Texture
•• Shape
  and size of the soil
particles and distribution.
• Fine-textured soils
– Silts and clays
• Coarse-textured soils
– Sands and gravel
• Max. diameter of particles in
suspension at a depth:
; Based on Stokes’ Law

where:
D, Max. dia. Of particles in suspension
,coefficient of depth y
t, time from start of the test
Basic Engineering Properties of Soils

•  Phase
Relations
: Porosity

• Phase
Relations
: Void
Ratio
Basic Engineering Properties of Soils

•  
And,

Similarly,

• Moisture Content

Where:
,weight of moist soil+container
, weight of dry soil+container

, weight of container
Basic Engineering Properties of Soils
•  Degree of saturation

• Total Density
;
• Dry Density

• Submerged Density

• Other useful Relationships

Basic Engineering Properties of Soils
• Atterberg Limits
A. Liquid Limit
Test Number 1 2 3 4
Number of blows 39 28 19 13
Weight of Wet 23.43 21.05 21.40 22.50
Soil+Container, g
Weight of Soil+Container, 20.21 18.32 18.65 19.43
g
Weight of container, g 12.74 12.43 13.11 13.54
Weight of Water, g (Wet Soil - 3.22 2.73 2.75 3.07
Dry Soil)

Weight of Dry Soil, g (Soil - 7.47 5.89 5.54 5.89

60

50
Container)
Liquid Limit is set at 25 40
Water
blows, Content, %
either done 43.11 46.35 49.64 52.12
30
(Water/Soil) % % % %
Axis Title
graphically using 20

logarithmic graphs or 10

through direct 0
10 15 20 25 30 35 40

calculation using Axis Title

 Problem: Plastic Limit
B. Plastic Limit and Plastic Limit Natural
Natural Water Content Water
Content
Test Number 1 2 1 2
Weight of Wet 23.50 23.10 17.33 17.11
Soil+Container, g
Weight of Dry 20.42 20.19 14.84 14.36
Soil+Container, g
Weight of container, g 12.45 12.54 9.76 9.34
Weight of water, g (Wet Soil - 3.08 2.91 2.49 2.75
Dry Soil)

Weight of Dry Soil, g (Soil - 7.97 7.65 5.08 5.02

Container)

Water Content, % 38.64 38.04 49.02 54.78

(Water/Soil) % % % %
 Basic Engineering Properties of
•• Liquidity Index
Soils
 
• Plasticity Index

• Permeability

Where:
u, velocity of water in the soil
I, hydraulic gradient
K, coefficient of permeability
• Shear Strength

Where:
S, Shear Strength ()
C, Cohesion ()
, angle of internal friction
, normal stress on the shear plane ()
Shear Strength
• Unbound
materials
cannot
withstand
tension, thus
meaningless to
talk of tensile
failure
• But can For pavements, beams and
withstand bridges bending stresses are
shear though the culprit of failure
 Inter-particle slip
•• Shear
  strain will occur in an unbound material if slip
occurs between particles
• Particles must have friction and the resistance to strain
• Also shape of the particle is important
• At slip:
, for rock particles θ must be around 30⁰-35⁰
Angle of internal friction
• Actual movements of
particles will be a
complex combination
of slip, rotation and
sideways
displacement
 
• expressed as at shear failure:

Where: Note:
, angle of internal friction is not equal to
, shear stress
, normal stress across the plane
Mohr Circles (Board
Calculation)
Method in
determining shear
strength: Tri-axial Test

• Shear
strength test
for a mold
soil sample
   Cohesive Soil
, Cell
  Pressure, Confining Pressure,
lateral pressure at failure
, Maximum
  Principal shear stress at Failure stress
, Deviator
  Stress

  ,  Angle of
Plane Failure
 
e
i l ur ope
Fa vel
e
En
n
Pla

   
ure

   
il

 
Fa

     
         
 
   
Example
• A sample of soil is subjected to a tri-
axial test. At a confining pressure of
60 kPa, the soil fails when the
plunger exerts a pressure of 80 kPa.
The plane of failure of the soil is 53⁰.
Determine the following:
a. Cohesion of the soil
b. Normal stress at the plane of failure
c. Shearing stress at the plane of failure
    

Solution   = 60 + 40 = 100 kPa

  = 40csc16⁰
 
1. Cohesion of the soil:
  = 12.397 kPa
2. Normal Stress at plane of
failure:
  = 88.975 kPa
3. Shearing Stress at the plane
  of failure:
 

en
Pla
l u re pe
i
Fa velo
ure

 
En
il

 
Fa

 
 
     
       
 
 
  =
  80 kPa
 Non-Cohesive
 

, Cell Soil
  Pressure, Confining Pressure,
lateral pressure at failure
, Maximum
  Principal shear stress at Failure stress
, Deviator
  Stress

  ,  Angle of
Plane Failure

 
e
   
n

re pe
Pla

i l u    
Fa velo
ure

En
il

 
Fa

   
       
 
 
Example
• In a tri-axial test of a cohesionless
soil, the normal and shearing
stresses at failure are 500kPa and
310kPa, respectively. Determine the
following:
a. Shearing resistance of the soil in
degrees
b. Angle of failure plane in degrees
c. Principal stress at failure in kPa.
  In triangle OBA:
 
Angle of failure plane:

Principal stress at failure:

=  500 kPa

 
e
   
n

re pe
Pla

i l u    
Fa velo
ure

En
il

 
Fa

   
       
 
 
Cohesion
• Forms of shear strength
characteristics – undrained condition

Clean Sand
 
Well-
graded
crushed Partially
rock saturated
soil

Saturated
clay

 
The effect of particle and mixture
properties
• Parameters:
– Particle shape and angularity
– Particle size
– Particle size distribution
– Water content
AASHTO Soil Classification
System
 AASHTO Soil Classification
System

•  
USCS Soil Classification
System
USCS Soil Classification
System
USCS Soil Classification
System

   
USCS Soil Classification
System
USCS Soil Classification
System
Assignment: Use AASHTO (A to C) & USCS (D
to F) to classify the soil, Use ½ Crosswise N.P.

Sieve Analysis, % Finer

Soil No. 10 No. 40 No. 200 Liquid Plastic
Limit Limit
A 98 81 38 42 23
B 84 58 8 --- N.P.
C 99 85 71 55 21
D 30 40 30 33 12
E 4 44 52 29 11
F 11 24 65 44 23
Soil Surveys for Highway
Construction
• Resistivity Method
Soil Surveys for Highway
Construction
• Seismic Method
 Soil Surveys for Highway
Construction
• Seismic Method
 Soil Surveys for Highway
Construction

   

 
Where:
, time obtained from plot , velocity of wave in underlying
stratum
, velocity wave in upper stratum , velocity of wave in third
stratum
 Example: Seismic method
• Estimating Depth and Soil Type of
Each Soil Stratum
Distance of Impulse to Time for wave arrival (10-3
Geophone (m) sec
6 32
12 60
18 88
24 94
30 100
36 106
42 112
48 116
54 117
60 118.5
66 120
75 122
 Estimating Depth and Soil Type of Each Soil
Stratum

Distance of Impulse to Geophone

140

E
120
F
C
100
D
B
80

60

40

20

A
0
32 60 88 94 100 106 112 116 117 118.5 120 122
 Solution
•  

 
 

   
 
Material Velocity (ft/sec)
Soil
Sand, dry silt, and fine-grained top soil 650-3,300
Alluvium 1,650-6,600
Compacted clays, clayey gravel, and dense 3,300-8,200
clayey sand 800-2,450
Loess

Rock
Slate and shale 8,200-16,400
Sandstone 4,900-16,400
Granite 13,100-19,700
 Soil Surveys for Highway
Construction
•  Soil Compaction
 Soil Surveys for Highway
Construction
• Optimum Moisture Content
 Problem:
• The results of field unit weight
determination of a soil sample using
the sand cone method is as follows:
– V = 0.00134 m3  
– M = 2250 g
 
– Ms = 1734 g
– Dry density = 1.425 g/cc
– MC = 13.8 %  

 
Field Compaction Equipment
• Spreading • Compaction
Equipment Equipment
– Bulldozers and – Smooth wheel or
motor graders drum roller
Field Compaction Equipment
• Compaction Equipment
– Typical Rubber-tired roller
– Typical Sheepsfoot roller
 Special Soil Tests for Pavement
Design
• California Bearing Ratio (CBR) Test
 

 
  
Where:
R, Resistance value
Pv, vertical pressure (1100 kPa)
Ph, horizontal pressure at Pv
1100 kPa
D, number of turns of
displacement pump
Suitability Number
•  Backfill rating for construction:
SN 0-10 10-20 20-30 30-40 >50

Backfill Excelle Good Fair Poor Unsuitabl

rating nt e