Having 28years of experience in the field of Civil Engineering, mainly in Highway Construction and

Supervision of Roads and Bridges. experienced in highway Pavement Material characterization and
performance, Selection of material for concrete, unbound and asphalt mixes are the key challenges
for the road construction activities. Material is one of the major key performance indicators in terms
of project completion on time and performance of the road for the design life.
Highway Flexible pavements are constructed with several layers of fill, Subgrade and unbound granular
materials (UGMs), such as the Sub-base and Base course layers which rest directly on the formation
(subgrade) layer. The unbound layers provide the structural support for the overlaying bituminous layers.
Performance of Subgrade has direct influence on the performance of the road. The subgrade protected
by the asphalt layers over excessive deformation by spreading the load and reducing the stresses. Hence
the mechanical properties of these materials are important for the overall performance of the structure.
The total deformation in the UGMs and subgrades due to the impact loading from the moving traffic
consists of recoverable (resilient deformation) and plastic deformation (permanent deformation). The
resilient deformation is associated with the bottom-up fatigue cracking of the Asphalt Concrete, whereas
the permanent deformation accumulates with the number of load applications and contributes to the
surface rutting. This paper describes two of the most important material properties of the unbound
layers of the pavements, i.e. the resilient and the permanent deformation properties.

The Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG) is to identify the physical causes of stresses
in pavement structures and calibrate them with observed pavement performance. Mechanistic –
Empirical (ME) design approach of flexible pavements aims to predict and control these deformations
through proper understanding of the materials’ behavior and mathematical modelling. This requires
good understanding of the material characteristics under various influential factors. This is usually
achieved through extensive laboratory testing and field studies. Among the different factors affecting the
mechanical properties is the moisture content (w) of the layer. Moisture constantly varies in the
structure, dependent on the ambient climate and seasonal variations. Predictions of the seasonal
variations of the unbound layer’s mechanical properties is therefore essential for a rigorous design
approach.

The characterization of the mechanical properties of the UGMs and subgrade materials is generally
carried out in the laboratory using the Repeated Load Triaxial (RLT) test for estimating
resilient deformation properties. Furthermore, the protocol is applicable for characterizing permanent
deformation properties of coarse-grained materials (base course and subbase materials). No protocol
exists for estimation of permanent deformation characteristics of materials with high fine content
(subgrades). For resilient behavior, the protocols demonstrate an application of a multi-stage (MS) set of
different stress paths for 100 cycles, each completed before moving on to the next one. This provides a
resilient stiffness MR estimation over a broad stress regime allowing fitting the data set to a
mathematical model. The protocol further describes an MS approach to obtain the permanent
deformation properties of the material by applying a set of different stress paths for 10,000 cycles each
before moving on to the next one. The protocol standard prescribes two sets of different combinations
of stress levels, namely “high stress level” (HSL) and “low stress level” (LSL).

The objective of this paper is to give a brief overview of the resilient modulus and permanent
deformation characteristics of unbound layers and subgrade materials and specifically their moisture
dependency. This has been achieved by running RLT tests on a large amount of materials. For the coarse-
grained materials the matric suction developed at dry states in the samples was not considered as it is
believed to be negligible. Similarly, close to saturation, development of positive pore water pressure was
disregarded since the tests were carried out under free drainage conditions. For subgrade materials with
high fine content, this is not true and negative pore water pressure (matric suction) at low moisture
content can contribute considerably to higher bulk stress of the material. Thus, in a proper analysis of
fine grained materials matric suction properties to be included in the mathematical modelling.

Moisture in Pavement structures: Moisture balance in pavement structures continuously evolves over
time. During the construction phase, pavement unbound materials are usually compacted at values close
to their optimum moisture content in order to reach maximum dry density conditions. However, after
construction, this moisture content changes to a natural equilibrium state that is usually lower than the
optimum moisture content but is greatly dependent on the ambient environmental conditions, material
properties, crack severity of the bituminous bound surface layers, and the groundwater table level. The
moisture content can still deviate from the equilibrium state due to seasonal climatic factors such as
rainfall, groundwater table variations, and freeze and thaw actions.

Conceptional model of the relation between road and ground water

The pavement cross section divided into Vadose Zone ( Surface water Zone, intermediate vadose and
capillary water zone) underlined by a saturated zone. The moisture in the vadose zone is highly
dependent on the ambient climate, the local geometry and material properties of the pavement
structure. It can therefore vary from being low during dry periods to very high or almost saturated
through wet periods or the spring thaw period, with locally developed ice lenses. A large part of the
induced loading from the heavy traffic is distributed through the vadose zone. Hence, the mechanical
parameters of these layers need to be updated accordingly as they are moisture dependent.

Hence, the mechanical parameters of these layers need to be updated accordingly as they are moisture
dependent. The moisture in the vadose zone is highly dependent on the ambient climate, the local
geometry and material properties of the pavement structure. It can therefore vary from being low during
dry periods to very high or almost saturated through wet periods or the spring thaw period, with locally
developed ice lenses. A large part of the induced loading from the heavy traffic is distributed through the
vadose zone. Hence, the mechanical parameters of these layers need to be updated accordingly as they
are moisture dependent.
Resilient modulus modelling:
The stiffness of pavement unbound materials and the subgrade soils are widely characterized by the
resilient modulus MR that is usually obtained from RLT testing. The resilient modulus represents the
stress strain behavior of unbound materials under repeated traffic loading, analogous to the elastic
modulus used in the elastic theory. In RLT testing, the resilient modulus is defined as the ratio of the
cyclic deviator stress (rd) to the recoverable axial strain (er). The resilient modulus measured under
conditions representative of the stress state induced by traffic loading and the ambient environment
that is experienced by the unbound materials in the pavement system.
Several researchers have proposed mathematical models that describe the stress dependency of the
resilient modulus for unbound layers and subgrades with high fine content. These models have mainly
been developed from curve fitting of laboratory RLT test data and do not directly account for
environmental factors that are mainly related to variations in the material moisture content. For coarse-
grained unbound layers a total stress approach can usually be assumed, and the resilient modulus is
commonly described according to the universal model as MR = k1 pa (Ɵ/pa)k2 (Ƭoct/pa +1)k3
Permanent deformation modelling
The mechanical resistance of UGMs and subgrades to plastic deformation during cyclic loading derives
mainly from particle interlocking and friction between the aggregates. The induced stress pulses cause
relative movements between the aggregates that to some extent are not recoverable and results in
further compaction of the material, particle crushing or material migration. Presence of moisture films
provide local pore pressure to reduce the effective stress. This decreases the internal friction among the
particles and therefore aids in their relative movements. Hence, the accumulation of permanent
deformation increases as the moisture content increases. Generally, the development of permanent
deformation in UGM can be characterized as consisting of two phases. In the initial phase, there is a
rapid increase in permanent strain with load applications. This phase is described as post-compaction,
which is accompanied by densification of the material, reduction in pore volume and volumetric change
of the material. In the second phase, the deformation rate becomes more or less constant and is
dominated by volume change, although shear deformation rises at an increasing rate. At failure, only
shear strain movements take place without any volume change.

Some of the Models which are described more in details are of

1. Tseng and Lytton model

2. Gidel et al. model
3. Korkiala-Tanttu model
4. Rahman and Erlingsson model

All the models used were able to capture the main behavior of the experimental accumulated
permanent deformation development for both UGMs and subgrade with the number of load repetitions
in MS RLT tests using the time hardening formulation. The quality of prediction is inherent in the models.
Generally, the Rahman and Erlingsson model performed better than the others. The predictions of the
shakedown ranges by the different models were also sufficiently accurate. However, the models were
developed based on the MS RLT test that does not take into account the effect of principal stress rotation
occurring in real pavement structures under moving traffic loads. Hence to implement the models for
field conditions, some modifications may be necessary and should be subject to further investigations.
The unbound layers and the subgrade of a pavement structure provide a significant support for the
structure as a whole. Hence the mechanical properties of these materials are important for the overall
performance of the structure. These materials are both non-linearly stress dependent and highly
affected by their moisture content. This paper describes two of the most important material properties
of the unbound layers of the pavements, i.e. the resilient and the permanent deformation properties.

The resilient properties of UGMs and subgrades exhibit stress dependency that can be well captured by
the universal model or the enhanced model by Cary and Zapata for materials with high fine content.
Bishop’s effective stress approach can be used for fine-grained materials for estimating the effective
stress in the layer. UGMs and subgrade materials are further highly moisture content dependent. Either
the AASHTO sigmoidal model can be used to describe the moisture dependency or the simple
exponential model.

The stress dependency of UGMs can be captured by the universal model or the enhanced model by Cary
and Zapata (2011) for materials with high fine content. The Bishop’s effective stress approach can be
used for high fine content materials for estimating the effect of suction. UGMs and subgrade materials
are further highly dependent on moisture content. Either the AASHTO sigmoidal model can be used to
describe the moisture dependency or the simple exponential model described in this paper. The paper
further discusses four models to characterize the accumulation of permanent deformation with the
number of load repetitions in repeated load triaxial (RLT) testing. The models are all developed to fit
single stage (SS) RLT test results but have been extended to fit multi-stage (MS) RLT test results with the
aid of the time hardening scheme. The advantage of the MS RLT tests over the SS RLT tests is that it
applies a range of stress paths on a single specimen, thus taking into account the effect of stress history
and reducing the time and effort required to test a separate specimen for each stress path.

The objective of this paper is to give a brief overview of the resilient modulus and permanent
deformation characteristics of unbound layers and subgrade materials and specifically their moisture
dependency. This has been achieved by running RLT tests on a large amount of materials. For the coarse-
grained materials the matric suction developed at drier states in the samples was not considered as it is
believed to be negligible. Similarly, close to saturation, development of positive pore water pressure was
disregarded since the tests were carried out under free drainage conditions.

For subgrade materials with high fine content, this is not true and negative pore water pressure (matric
suction) at low moisture content can contribute considerably to higher bulk stress of the material. Thus,
in a proper analysis of fine grained materials matric suction properties needs to be included in the
mathematical modelling.