2.

Soils and Granular Materials

(Unbound materials)
CE30201: Pavement Engineering

IIT Kharagpur, Autumn 2022

Soils and Granular Materials
Learning objectives
• Functions of unbound layers
• Loading and environmental conditions the unbound
materials subjected to
• Behavior of unbound materials under loads
• Factors influencing the behavior of unbound
materials
• Various properties and tests on unbound materials.
• Models for pavement analysis and design
• Specifications for Unbound materials
Soils and Granular Materials
(Unbound materials)
Functions
• Subgrade (soil): Should protect the natural soil
beneath
• In flexible pavements, the base and subbase layers
are structural components that need to provide
sufficient strength, while reducing stresses to levels
that can be sustained by the subgrade.
• In rigid pavements, the base layer is used for leveling
and structural strengthening of weak subgrades.
• Subbase layers should provide internal drainage,
while preventing water ingress into the subgrade.
Unbound materials in Pavements
Soil below pavements and granular materials in
pavements exist above the water table but beneath
a sealed surface. This does not completely inhibit
ingress of water. Hence, both saturated and
partially saturated conditions can occur.
Unbound materials in Pavements
• In completed
pavements -
subjected to large
numbers of load
applications at stress
levels well below
their shear strength.

In situ vertical stress measurements in

subgrades: below 165 mm asphalt
construction

(S. F. Brown, 1996)

Unbound materials in Pavements
• Under partially completed pavements, when
construction traffic is applied directly to the
granular layer, the number of load applications is
fewer but the stress levels are much higher.

In situ vertical stress

measurements in subgrades:
below 350 mm granular layer

(S. F. Brown, 1996)

Stress conditions under a moving wheel load:
stresses on pavement element
Stress conditions under a moving wheel load:
Variation of stresses with time

(S. F. Brown, 1996)

Soils and Granular Materials
• Subjected
• Various stress states.
• Various moisture states.
Soils and Granular Materials
Failure in Unbound materials
• Unbound materials cannot withstand tension – but
they can withstand shear.
• Failure in unbound material is always shear failure.
• Deformation in an unbound layer of a pavement is
always associated with failure along shear planes.
Material models for Pavement Design
Pavement Design philosophy
Soils and Granular Materials
• Physical Properties provide the most basic
description of unbound materials.
• Mechanical properties that are used in an analysis
model to relate applied structural loads to structural
response.
• Thermo-hydraulic inputs that are used to relate
environmental influences to the thermal and
hydraulic state of the system.
• Distress model properties that enter directly in the
empirical models for pavement performance.
Mechanical Properties
Resileint behaviour

Strains in granular materials during one cycle of load application

Mechanical Properties
Resilient behaviour

resilient behaviour
Mechanical Properties
Resilient behaviour Mr – resilient modulus
Unbound materials in Pavements
• Granular base/subbase layers exhibit an
elastoplastic behavior in response to the loading
and unloading conditions imposed by traffic loads.
• Under a single application of a moving wheel
load, a pavement responds in an essentially
resilient manner.
• However, irrecoverable plastic and viscous strains
can accumulate under repeated loading.
• This presents the opportunity to separate the
theoretical analysis of pavements into two parts
rather than to apply a single elasto-plastic
analysis.
Factors influencing the resilient response
Stress
• The resilient modulus is highly influenced by confining stress, but
to a lesser extent by the deviatoric stress.

Monismith,1967
Factors influencing the resilient response
Water content
• At low water contents, suction can be present, giving an effective
cohesion. This increases the stiffness.
• At high water contents any suction effect will disappear and be
replaced by positive pore pressures as voids become filled with
water, decreasing normal forces between particles and so
allowing easier inter particle slip.

Load Duration, Frequency, and Load Sequence

• Little or no significant impact on resilient response of granular
materials
 Tests for Mechanical Properties
Shear Strength: Tests

Tri-axial test

(Thom, 2011)
Tests - Mechanical Properties
Shear Strength: Indicative tests
California bearing ratio (CBR) test
Tests for Mechanical Properties
Stiffness tests Eg: NCHRP Project 1-28A - Laboratory Determination
Triaxial test of Resilient Modulus for Flexible Pavement Design

(Thom, 2011)
Tests for Mechanical Properties
Stiffness tests (in-situ)
Dynamic Plate Test
Resilient modulus vs CBR
120

Resilient Modulus (MPa) 100

80

60

40

20

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
CBR

10*CBR 17.6*(CBR)^0.64

Relationships between CBR and resilient

modulus for subgrade (IRC – 37)
Physical Properties
• Physical properties provide the most basic
description of unbound materials.
• These properties are also often used in
correlations for more fundamental engineering
properties, such as stiffness or permeability.
• The principal physical properties of interest
are specific gravity of solids, water content,
unit weight (density), gradation
characteristics, plasticity (Atterberg limits),
classification, and compaction characteristics.
Physical Properties that influence the unbound material
behavior
• Particle shape and angularity.
• Particle size.
• Particle size distribution.
• Particle packing (degree of compaction).
• Water content.
Factors influencing the resilient response
Particle shape and angularity
• Equidimensional (cubical) shape and angular
aggregates rather than flat, thin, or elongated
particles.
• Increasing particle angularity and roughness
increase the resilient modulus and resistance to
permanent deformation
 Physical Properties that influence the unbound material
behavior
Particle size

The effect of particle size on stiffness modulus – triaxial data (Thom, 1988 & 2011)
Physical Properties that influence the unbound material
behavior

Particle size distribution : coarse particles

mechanical sieve analysis

Physical Properties
Particle size distribution

• Gradation is quantified by the percentage (most

commonly by weight) of the soil that is finer than
a given size (“percent passing”) vs. grain size.
• Broadly graded aggregate tends to have a higher
angle of internal friction than a single-sized
material.
Physical Properties that influence the unbound material
behavior
Particle size distribution
Physical Properties
Particle size distribution : Parameters
120

100

80
% passing

60 n = 0.4
n = 0.5
n = 0.3
40

20

0
0.01 0.1 1 10 100
Sieve size (mm)
Physical Properties
Particle packing/Compaction

• Compaction - requirement for unbound pavement

layer.
• It will usually be specified in terms of percentage
relative to a controlled laboratory procedure.
• The most common laboratory compaction tool
worldwide is the Proctor hammer
 Physical Properties
Particle packing/Compaction
• Increased elastic stiffness, which reduces short-term
resilient deformations during cyclic loading.
• Decreased compressibility, which reduces the
potential for excessive long-term settlement.
• Increased strength, which increases bearing capacity
and decreases instability potential (e.g., for slopes).
• Decreased hydraulic conductivity (permeability), which
inhibits flow of water through the soil.
• Decreased void ratio, which reduces the amount of
water that can be held in the soil and, thus, helps
maintain desired strength and stiffness properties.
Physical Properties
Water content
Effect of water
Desired in-service
Dry Density 0% air voids (i.e.
condition after drying
full saturation)
out
Maximum Dry Density
(heavy compaction)
Maximum Dry Density
Heavy
(light compaction)
Compaction
(e.g. on site)

Light Compaction
(e.g. in laboratory)

Dry Maximum suction Optimum Saturated Water Content

Physical Properties
Water content
Effect of water
Strength or Damp
Desired in-service
Dry Density 0% air voids (i.e.
stiffness condition after drying
full saturation)
out
Maximum Dry Density
Wet (heavy compaction)
Maximum Dry Density
Heavy
(light compaction)
Compaction
(e.g. on site) Ver
Dry y
wet
Light Compaction
(e.g. in laboratory)

Dry Maximum suction Optimum Saturated Water Content

Mechanical Properties
Resilient Modulus Models
Confining Pressure Model (Seed et al. 1967)
σ3 is confining pressure and K1 and K2
𝐾2
𝑀𝑟 = 𝐾1 σ3 are regression analysis constants

K- θ Model (Hicks and Monismith, 1971)

q is bulk stress = (s1 + 2s3) or (sd + 3s3), sd is deviator
𝑀𝑟 = 𝐾1 (θ)𝐾2
stress = (s1 - s3) and K, n are regression analysis constants

Uzan (1985) Model

𝐾2 𝐾3
𝑀𝑟 = 𝐾1 θ σ𝑑
Mechanical Properties
Resilient Modulus Models

Universal Octahedral Shear Stress Model (Witczak and Uzan (1988))

𝐾2 𝐾3
𝐼1 τ𝑜𝑐𝑡
𝑀𝑟 = 𝐾1 𝑝𝑎
𝑝𝑎 𝑝𝑎
𝐼1 is the first stress invariant, τ𝑜𝑐𝑡 is the octahedral shear stress

NCHRP 1-37A Mechanistic Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG)

Model

𝐾2 𝐾3
𝐼1 τ𝑜𝑐𝑡
𝑀𝑟 = 𝐾1 𝑝𝑎 +1
𝑝𝑎 𝑝𝑎
Mechanical Properties
Permanent Deformation Models
Strain Rate Model (El-Mitiny, 1980) and Khedr, 1985)
Where Ɛ𝑝 is the axial permanent strain; N is
Ɛ𝑝 the number of load applications; a and b are
= 𝑎𝑁 −𝑏 model parameter estimates from linear
𝑁
regression of laboratory experimental data
Tseng and Lytton Model

ρ β
−
Ɛ𝑝 = Ɛ0 𝑒 𝑁
Ɛ0 , b, and r are material parameters that are different for
each sample, and are determined based on the water
content, resilient modulus, and stress states for base
aggregate and subgrade soils through multiple regression
analyses
Mechanical Properties
Hydraulic properties
Coefficient of permeability or permeability or hydraulic conductivity

Drainage follows Darcy’s law, expressed as

𝑞 = 𝑘𝑖 q is the water discharge rate (m/hour), k is the hydraulic permeability

(m/hour), i is the hydraulic gradient (total hydraulic head loss divided
by the distance over which it is lost)

• The coefficient of permeability of granular media is largely a

function of their gradation and especially, the amount of fines
present.
• For soils, it varies broadly, ranging from 36 m/hour for
uniformly graded gravels to the practically impermeable of
36*10−6 m/hour for silts and clays.
Hydraulic properties
Measurement of coefficient of permeability
Constant Head Permeability Test
Hydraulic properties
Permeability models
In the absence of test data, correlations with gradation properties can be used to
estimate the permeability from different models

In general, coarse-grained soils have higher permeability compared to fine-grained

soils.