DYNAMIC CONE PENETROMETER (DCP) TESTING FOR LOW VOLUME ROAD DESIGN 1

Phil PaigePaige-Green and Amy Maharaj CSIRCSIR -Built Environment

INTRODUCTION TO COURSE

Based on a more comprehensive course Maximising benefit of DCP testing for LVR Cheap instrument to obtain and use Lots of information quickly Make the most of it

OUTLINE OF COURSE
1. 2. 3.

4. 5.

Historical and development Equipment and use Theoretical aspects related to pavement design Introduction to WinDCP 5 DCP design for LVR

WinDCP 5.0.lnk WinDCP 5.0.lnk

DCP AND PAVEMENT DESIGN

Objectives of lecture 1: History and development of DCP Relationship between DCP and in situ shear strength Impact of moisture Use in pavement design

HISTORICAL AND DEVELOPMENT

California Bearing Ratio (CBR) test developed in 1930s q Soon used as a basis for pavement design q Essentially indication of shear strength of a material
q

HISTORICAL AND DEVELOPMENT

1956 Scala in Australia developed DCP q Evolved over time to current apparatus q NB. Various configurations q SA standard (TMH 6) q UK, ASTM, etc, ?
q

DN = penetration rate

CORRELATION
During the 1970s many comparative tests were done q Field versus laboratory DCP and CBR tests q Developed correlation models for both natural and stabilized materials q Between cone penetration rate (DN) and CBR (%) and UCS (kPa)
q

MODELS
If DN > 2 mm/blow CBR = 410 x DN-1.27 (or Log CBR = 2.61 1.27 log (DN) q If DN < 2 mm/blow CBR = (66.66xDN2 )-(330xDN)+ 563.33
q q

UCS = 2900 x DN-1.09 or UCS = 15 x CBR0.88

Cone angle

Reference

Relationship

60

TRL7

log10(CBR) = 2.48 1.057 log10(DN)

Sampson8 Plastic materials only PI > 6 materials PI < 6 materials PI = 0 materials

loge(CBR) = 5.8 0.95 loge(DN) loge(CBR) = 5.93 1.1 loge(DN) loge(CBR) = 6.15 1.248 loge(DN) loge(CBR) = 5.70 0.82 loge(DN) loge(CBR) = 5.86 0.69 loge(DN)

Harison9 Clayey soils Sand S-W Gravel G-W Combined data Soaked samples Unsoaked samples

log10(CBR) = 2.81 1.32 log10(DN) log10(CBR) = 2.56 1.16 log10(DN) log10(CBR) = 3.03 1.51 log10(DN) log10(CBR) = 2.55 0.96 log10(DN) log10(CBR) = 2.81 1.32 log10(DN) log10(CBR) = 2.76 1.28 log10(DN) log10(CBR) = 2.83 1.33 log10(DN)

30 cone

Smith and Pratt10

Log10(CBR) = 2.555 1.145 Log10(DN)

CONTINUED DEVELOPMENTS
Extensive DCP testing was carried out in conjunction with Heavy Vehicle Simulator (HVS) testing of various roads q This allowed further correlations and developments, eg, relationships between actual road performance and DCP results
q

CONTINUED DEVELOPMENTS
1980s formal DCP software (DOS) q 1990s improved DCP software (Windows) q 2003 WinDCP Version 5 q 2007 WinDCP Version 5.1 q Ongoing local and international work
q

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES

q

Advantages of DCP
Low cost Robust Quick and easy (many tests) Non-destructive (almost) Tests in situ condition (density, moisture, stress conditions) to a depth of 800 mm

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES

q

Disadvantages of DCP
Affected by stones Affected by poor testing technique More than one variable (density, moisture, material type) Outweighed by advantages

EFFECT OF MOISTURE
Moisture content at time of testing is extremely important q Correlations have been developed for making a general correction q Ignore density and material type
q

Material classification

Soaked CBR

Approximate field DCP- CBR : Unsealed road Subgrade Wet climate Dry climate Very dry state Wearing course Dry state Moderate state Damp state

G4 G5 G6 G7 G8 G9 G10

80 45 25 15 10 7 3 59 45 38 33 20 65 50 43 37 24

318 244 186 147

228 175 134 106

164 126 96 76

117 90 69 54

Note: moisture contents are expressed as ratios of in situ to Mod AASHTO optimum moisture content as follows: very dry = 0.25; dry = 0.5; moderate = 0.75; damp = 1.0

Material classification

Soaked CBR

Approximate field DCP- CBR : Low volume roads Subgrade Wet climate Dry climate Base, subbase and selected layers Very dry state Dry state Moderate state Damp state

G4 G5 G6 G7 G8 G9 G10

80 45 25 15 10 7 3 56 52 39 38 35 66 62 46 44 41

260 188 146 137 101

205 148 115 108 80

151 109 85 79 59

96 69 54 50 37

Note: moisture contents are expressed as ratios of in situ to Mod AASHTO optimum moisture content as follows: very dry = 0.25; dry = 0.5; moderate = 0.75; damp = 1.0

USE OF DCP IN PAVEMENT DESIGN

Get to know the equipment Ins and outs of DCP testing Data collection and manual processing

DCP EQUIPMENT AND USE

Simple, robust and cheap equipment However, various aspects must be noted Dimensions must be correct Hammer right way up indented High energy system strong shocks and flat fingers 2 kinds of operators Spares Cones

Problem areas

USE OF THE DCP

Standard method TMH 6

Method Manual interpretation Determining DCP number (DN value in mm/blow) Three operators best Five aspects must be controlled additionally

DCP animation 3.pps

USAGE TIPS
Vertical at all times q Hammer must touch top (gently) before release dont throw q Allow to bounce on hard materials q Cone shoulder must be flush with surface at start q Mounding of surfacing
q

STONES
q

DCP cone may strike a large stone:

Stone breaks Cone deflected Refusal

Consequences:
OK for 1st case Start again for others

DRILLING
If you need to know what is below a hard (eg stabilized) layer q Drill through it ??
q

CAPTURING DATA
q

Two methods
List of depths against number of blows Fixed data sheet Number of blows

Depth of penetration No of blows

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100 105 110 115 120 125 130 135 140 145 150 155 160 165 170

Test 1
48 62 74 83 93 100 105 117 130 141 157 173 186 202 218 239 263 287 310 333 360 384 417 444 472 497 538 603 670 740 804 865

Test 2
52 69 81 94 111 127 141 157 170 182 201 218 231 252 273 294 311 323 336 353 369 387 406 432 463 509 549 571 593 617 642 679 727 766 852

Test 3
54 63 74 84 95 102 112 125 144 170 197 215 237 253 271 292 319 363 430 500 582 729 868

CAPTURING DATA
Useful to inspect data as penetration proceeds q Was routine before computerised data processing q Only done exceptionally now
q

DN DSN800
Layer thicknesses

MORE USEFUL FIGURES

From the previous figure we get DN and DSN800 q We can also get:
q

the layer strength diagram using DN the layer strength diagram using CBR

DCP Number (mm/blow)

1 10 100 0 100

300 400 500 600 700 800 900

Penetration depth (mm)

200

CBR (% )
10 100 1000 0 100

300 400 500 600 700 800 900

Penetration depth (mm)

200

LEARNING OUTCOMES
Be able to check the equipment q Carry out a standard test q Manually plot and interpret the results
q