[Type the company name] MATERIAL TESTING AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE

Soil
1. Grain Size Analysis 2. Atterbergs Limit 3. Compaction Test 4. Free Swell Index 5. Direct Shear 6. California Bearing Ratio 7. Tri-Axial Compression Test

Grain Size Analysis

(IS 2720: part 4)

PURPOSE
The commonly used properties for classification of soil are the grain size distribution and atterbergs limits which are also used to determine the suitability of soil as a sub-grade material and other purposes. The soils are generally divided into four groups based on their particle size Gravel: coarser particles of rock and sand between 80mm and 4.75mm Sand: smaller fraction of particles between 4.75mm and 75micron Silt: soil fractions smaller than 75 micron are called fines which consist of silt and clay.75 micron to 2 micron is silt Sand: microscopic and sub-microscopic particles lower than 2 micron is clayey particles. Dry sieve analysis is generally carried out on coarse aggregates or sandy soil either retained or passing through 4.75 mm sieve if they are cohesion less and without lumps. Otherwise wet sieve analysis is conducted. Wet sieve analysis is carried if the sample contains cohesive lumps and it is not possible to break them into their respective grain size by any pulverizing methods. Soils with fractions which are likely to cause flocculation are added with 2 gm of sodiumhexameta-phoshate or 1 gm of sodium hydroxide / sodium carbonate as a dispersing agent and left for soaking.

CALCULATION
The weight of soil retained on each sieve is expressed as a percentage by weight of total soil sample. The cumulative percentage of soil retained on each sieve is calculated by adding the percentages retained by all the sieves larger by particular sieve under consideration. The values of cumulative percentage passing each sieve is calculated by subtracting 100 from the respective cumulative percentage retained.

REPORTING OF RESULTS
The results of sieve analysis are presented in the form of table as well as the grain size distribution graph plotted on semi log paper. The values of grain size or sieve openings are plotted in logarithmic scale as abscissa and cumulative percentage of material passing the respective sieve as ordinate in arithmetic scale. The smooth curve obtained by joining each point is thus particle size distribution curve.

DISCUSSION ON RESULT
If there is little cohesiveness in the sample than it is must to carry out the gradation by wet sieve analysis. The fine particles must be soaked in water (using suitable dispersing agent if required) and then subject to sieving. Experimentally it is seen that soil fraction passing through 75 micron sieve in dry sieve analysis was in range 5% to 15% and when the same samples were subject to wet sieve analysis they were in range of 15% to 45% and even more.

APPLICATION OF GRAIN SIZE ANALYSIS Interpretation of gradation

The grain size distribution curve gives the exact idea regarding the gradation of the soils. It is possible to identify whether a soil is well graded, gap graded or poorly graded.

Uniformity coefficient U, is expressed as (D60 /D10 ), where D60 and D10 are particle size corresponding to 60 % and 10% fines in the grain size distribution curve. A high value of uniformity coefficient such as U greater than 4 or 5 indicates the presence of wide range of particle size or soil is well graded. A low U of the order of lower than 2 indicates uniformly graded soil

Soil classification
Ordinarily sieve analysis (dry/wet) will be quite sufficient along with the tests for consistency limits for identifying and classifying soil.

Proportioning soils for mixed design

The principle of mechanical soil stabilization is to mix two or more number of selected soils and gravels or aggregates in a suitable proportion that a desired grain size distribution is obtained for the combined materials as per mix design

ATTERBERG`S LIMIT
(IS 2720 PART 5 & 6)

PURPOSE
The physical properties of fine grained soils, especially of clayey soils differ considerably at different water contents present in soil. The tests for determination of consistency limits are all empirical. Liquid Limit: It is defined as the minimum water content at which the soil will flow under the application of a very small shearing force. Plastic Limit: It is defined as the minimum water content at which soil remains in a plastic state and posses moulding characteristics. Shrinkage Limit: it is defined as the maximum water content at which further reduction in water content does not cause reduction in volume.

LIQUID LIMIT TEST (By cone penetration one point method)

In the case of soils whose liquid limit exceeds by 120% in case of one point method mechanical method should be used.

PRINCIPLE
Since the depth of penetration is in an indirect reflection of shear strength at different water contents, it has been found, within the framework of a scientific base that W/WL against logD or D is unique and is independent of soil type. The resulting linear relation enables to determine liquid limit water content at specified penetration of 20 mm depth.

CALCULATION
The water content is determined for any accepted trial and the liquid limit water content is calculated by any one of the following relationships. WL = WN / 0.77 LogD WL = WN / (0.65 + 0.0175 D) The liquid limit of the sample shall be reported to first decimal place and history of the sample that is natural state, oven dried, or any pretreatment done should be mentioned. Shrinkage Limit of remoulded sample, Ws = w (v- vo/wo)100 where Ws = shrinkage limit in percent, w = moisture content of wet soil pat V = volume of wet soil pat in ml, Vo = volume of dry soil pat in ml, and Wo - weight of oven-dry soil pat in g.

Application of consistency limits Identification and classification of soils Compressibility Plasticity index Application of data in the construction of highway material Group index method of classifying sub grade soil

COMPACTION TEST PURPOSE Compaction of a soil is a mechanical process by which the soil particles are constrained to be packed more closely together by reducing air voids. Soil compaction decreases air voids and consequently increases dry density. This may result in increase in shear strength. The possibility of future settlement or compressibility decreases and also the tendency for subsequent changes in moisture content decreases. Light compaction is done filling the mould in three equal layers and compacted by 2.6 kg hammer with 25 blows in small mould and 55 blows in large mould of 150 mm diameter Heavy compaction is done by filling the mould in 5 layers and compacting by 4.9 kg hammer with 25 blows each in small mould of 100 mm diameter and 55 blows in large mould of 150 mm diameter. RESULT Moisture- dry density graph is plotted with moisture content on the X axis and dry density on Y axis and a smooth curve is drawn connecting the points, which is called compaction curve. From this curve, the maximum density is noted and the corresponding value of moisture content is taken as optimum moisture content OMC DISCUSSION The objective of the compaction test is to determine the relationship between compacting moisture content and dry density achieved for the soil keeping the compacting energy per unit volume constant. Therefore to increase the accuracy of results the volume to be struck off from the collar should not be very different in each case and it should be like 6 mm of soil should be there after removing the collar to be struck off to get good reproducibility.

APPLICATION OF COMPACTION TEST In field compaction the compacting effort is first controlled at OMC and the adequacy of compaction is checked by checking the dry density achieved The results are used for quality control in the construction of pavements as IRC and MORTH recommends achieving 97% of the dry density achieved in heavy compaction in sub-grade layer and 95% in compacted embankments. Suitability of the soil to be used in highway work is based on the specified minimum value of dry density achieved in compaction test. As per MORTH for deciding suitability of soil to be used as sub-grade, the maximum dry density should not be less than 1.75 g/cc The maximum dry density indicates the strength property of the soil, lower the dry density it indicates weaker is the soil although it is just qualitative idea quantification is done by conducting strength tests.

SHEAR TESTS ON SOILS

(IS 2720 part 11, 12, 13)

PURPOSE The strength parameters namely the cohesion and the angle of internal friction or shearing resistance of soils are usually found from the shear tests. Two commonly used methods are direct shear test and triaxial compression test DIRECT SHEAR TEST In this test the soil specimen is placed in the shear box between two halves and a normal load is applied. Then a longitudinal displacement or the shear force is applied and its magnitude is increased until the specimen fails along the predetermined horizontal plane between the two halves of shear box By repeating the direct shear test at different magnitudes of normal load, a graph is plotted with normal stress values on the X-axis and the shear stress values on Y-axis. The value of cohesion C, and the magnitude of angle of internal friction are obtained from the graph DISCUSSION The main advantage of direct shear test is its simplicity and less time consuming in comparison to tri axial. But it is also associated with some disadvantages as follows The failure is forced to take place along pre determined horizontal plane not the weakest plane The area of cross section of specimen progressively decreases during the test.

There is no uniform shear stress distribution within the failure plane and drainage conditions are not controlled

TRI-AXIAL COMPRESSION TEST In triaxial test the load applied is mostly transient and it is carried out on the soil having more cohesive properties APPLICATIONS The shear strength parameters C and internal friction can be found and thus shearing resistance can be found out Elastic modulus values or modulus of deformation values of sub grade and other pavement layer materials are determined from tri axial test. The unconfined compression test is considered to be the special case in which lateral confining pressure is zero.

FREE SWELL INDEX

PURPOSE Free swell index is conducted on soils which have the potential to swell. It is desirable to carry out further detailed investigations on soils with high free swell index. DISCUSSION The volume of the soil sample in the jar is noted as Vk and water as Vw than FSI = 100* (Vw - Vk )/Vk

CALIFORNIA BEARING RATIO PURPOSE The CBR test denotes a measure of resistance to penetration of a soil or flexible pavement material of standard plunger under controlled test conditions. It is a method for evaluating the strength of sub grade soil and other pavement materials for the design and construction of flexible pavements. DISCUSSION ON RESULTS The CBR values at 2.5 and 5.0 mm penetration levels are calculated for each specimen from the corresponding graphs. Generally the CBR value at 2.5 mm penetration is higher but if the value is higher at 5.0 mm than test is repeated and If still it is higher than higher value is adopted. The initial concavity of the load penetration curve calling for the correction may be due to one or more of the following reasons: The top layer of soaked soil specimen is too soft or slushy after soaking in water. The top surface of the specimen is not even. The penetration plunger of the loading machine is not vertical result in bottom surface of plunger not being horizontal and fully in contact with the top surface of specimen. APPLICATIONS Based on CBR data collected, empirical design charts were developed by the California state highway department, correlating the CBR value and pavement thickness requirement.

AGGREGATES
1. Aggregate Impact test 2. Los Angeles Abrasion test 3. Specific gravity and water absorption test

4. Shape test

5. Soundness test

6. Stripping value test

Aggregate Impact test

(IS 2386 Part 4)

PURPOSE Toughness is the property of the material to resist impact. During the construction process of pavement layers, particularly compaction by heavy rollers and also due to movement of heavy wheel loads of traffic, the road aggregates are subjected to impact therefore stone aggregates should therefore be sufficiently tough to resist fracture under impact loads. DISCUSSION Aggregate impact value test of a sample not only depends on toughness and strength parameters it also depends on the shape factors such as flakiness and elongation of the aggregates APPLICATION The aggregate impact test is considered to be an important test to assses the suitability of the aggregated as regards the toughness for use in various constructional purpose mainly highway. RESULTS It is expressed as percentage of finer material passing 2.36 mm IS sieve after test to original weight. Aggregate impact value Toughness property Less than 10 Exceptionally strong/tough 10 to 20 Very tough 20 to 30 Good for pavement construction Above 35 Weak for pavement construction

LOS ANGELES ABRASION TEST

(IS 2386 part 4) PURPOSE Due to movement of traffic, the road stones are used in the surfacing course of pavements are subjected to wearing action at the top surface. Resistance to wear or hardness is hence a essential property for road aggregates especially when used in wearing course. Thus road stones should be hard enough to resist the wearing under heavy traffic loads. RESULT The result is expressed as a percentage wear and the average value of the two test. Percentage wear is the amount of fines to the original weight passing through 1.70 mm IS sieve DISCUSSION Los angeles test is very commonly used to evaluate the quality of aggregates for use in pavement construction, especially to decide hardness of aggregate M Maximum allowable los angeles abrasion value of aggregates given by MORTH for different layers is given in the table Types of pavement layer Los angeles abrasion value, maximum WBM sub-base, WBM, WMM and CRM base course 40 Bituminous macadam and binder course Dense graded bituminous macadam binder Dense graded bituminous macadam binder course 35 Cement concrete pavement

SPECIFIC GRAVITY AND WATER ABSORPTION

(IS 2386 PART 4) PURPOSE The specific gravity of an aggregate is considered to be measure of strength or quality of the material. Stone having low specific gravity are generally weaker than those with higher specific gravity values. The specific gravity is made to use in weight-volume conversions. CALCULATION Specific gravity, apparent specific gravity and water Absorption shall be calculated as follows: Specific gravity= (dry weight of aggregate)/(weight of equal volume of water) Water absorption (percent of dry weight) = % by weight of water absorbed in terms of oven dried weight of aggregates DISCUSSION AND APPLICATION The water absorption test does not always gives reproducible results in aggregates with high porosity. The specific gravity of coarse aggregates used in road construction ranges from 2.5 to 3.2 with an avg value of 2.70. Water absorption is accepted as measure of its porosity. Sometimes this value is even considered as a measure of its resistance to frost action though not has been confirmed by adequate research. Water absorption of about 0.1 to 2.0 percent for coarse aggregates normally used in road construction.

SHAPE TEST
(IS 2386 part 1)

PURPOSE The shape of aggregate particle is determined by the percentage of flaky and elongated particles contained in it. Presence of flaky particles in the construction is undesirable as they may cause weakness with possibilities of breaking down under loads. APPLICATION In the road construction work MORTH has specified the limits of flakiness index and elongation index. Though elongated shape of aggregates also gets broken down under heavy rollers during compaction and also during compaction under heavy traffic load. MORTH has specified the maximum permissible value of combined flakiness and elongation index of coarse aggregates as 30% for WMM base course and other

SOUNDNESS TEST
(IS 2386 PART 5)

PURPOSE Soundness test is intended to study the resistance of course and fine aggregates to weathering action. In the absence of adequate information the laboratory test simulation accelerated weathering condition is carried out to judge the durability or the soundness of the course aggregates. DISCUSSION If the sample contains less than 5% of any of the sizes specified under procedure that size should not be tested, but for the purpose of testing it shall be considered to have the loss in sodium sulphate or magnesium sulphate treatment as the avg of next smaller or next greater size

APPLICATION The soundness test is useful to asses the resistance of the aggregates to weathering. For cement concrete likely to be exposed to the action of frost, coarse, and fine aggregates should pass an accelerated soundness test. As a general rule, it may be taken that the avg loss of weight after 10 cycles should not exceed 12% with sodium sulphate and 18% with magnesium sulphate Indian road congress has specified maximum permissible loss in weight in soundness test after 5 cycles as 12% with sodium sulphate and 18% with magnesium sulphate for the aggregates to be used in bituminous binder course and surfacing of road pavements.

STRIPPING VALUE
(IS 6241)

PURPOSE Stripping of coated binder or detachment of a portion of bitumen coating from the aggregate due to the presence of water. So to measure and deal with this problem test is conducted to calculate stripping value. The stripping is due to the fact that those aggregates have higher affinity towards water than bituminous binders and this displacement of bituminous coating from the aggregates depends on the physio-chemical forces acting on the system. Most road aggregates are electrically charged for example silica, a common constituent of igneous rock posses a weak negative charge and hence have a higher affinity for polar compounds like water DISCUSSION The stripping value is the ratio of uncovered area observed visually to the total area of aggregates in each test, expressed as percentage.

BITUMEN
1. Penetration Test 2. Ductility Test 3. Viscosity Test

4. Softening Point Test

5. Flash and Fire Point Test

PENETRATION TEST
(IS 1203) PURPOSE Determination of absolute viscosity is not so simple therefore the consistency of these materials are determined by indirect methods. Penetration test is indirect method to determine consistency by measuring the depth to which a standard needle will penetrate vertically under its own weight. Thus the basic principle of the penetration test is the measurement of the penetration. DISCUSSION It may be noted that the penetration value is influenced by any accuracy as regards of following factors Pouring temperature, size of needle, weight placed on needle, test temperature, duration of releasing the penetration needle, period of cooling etc. APPLICATION It is most commonly adopted test to determine the grade of the material in terms of its hardness. Penetration test is empirical test and there is no direct relation to the fundamental properties of binder.

DUCTILITY TEST
(IS 1208) PURPOSE It is desirable that the bitumen binders used in the bituminous mixes form ductile thin films around the aggregates. The binder material which posses sufficient ductility would crack and thus provide pervious pavement surface

DISCUSSION The ductility value gets seriously affected if any of the following factors are varied 1. Test temperature 2. Pouring temperature 3. Diameter of briquette, particularly the cross section at the minimum width should be 10x10 mm 4. Improper level of briquette placement or the stretched thread of specimen touching the top or bottom surface of water bath 5. Rate of pulling 6. Period of cooling APPLICATIONS A certain minimum ductility is considered essential because of the temp change in the bitumen mix and the repeated deformations that occur. If the bitumen is low in ductility pavement may crack and lead to failure.

VISCOSITY TEST
(IS 1206 PART I, II, III)

Viscosity of a liquid is the property that retards its flow due to internal friction and it is a measure of resistance to flow of the liquid. The viscosity is of two types as ABSOLUTE VISCOSITY: the ratio between the applied shear stress and the rate of shear is called the absolute viscosity measured in poise. KINEMATIC VISCOSITY: it is the ratio of the absolute viscosity to the density of the liquid, both at the same temperature measured in stokes.

APPLICATIONS OF ABSOLUTE AND KINEMATIC VISCOSITIES Previously grading of bitumen is done as per the penetration test but now more rational methods are available to categorize bitumen material known as VISCOSITY GRADING (VS)

SOFTENING POINT TEST

(IS 1205)
PURPOSE Bitumen does not suddenly change from solid to liquid state, but as the temperature increases it becomes softer until it flows readily.the softening point is the temperature at which the substance attains particular degree of softening under specified condition of test. And as all bitumen mixes are required to be soft and flowable so as to make possible their mixing with aggregates DISCUSSION To ensure the credibility of the test the following conditions should be taken care of: 1. Quality and type pf liquid in the bath 2. Weight of balls 3. Distance between bottom ring and bottom base plate 4. Rate of heating APPLICATIONS Softening point thus gives an idea of the temperature at which the bituminous material attains a certain viscosity. Bitumen with higher softening point may be preferred in warmer places.it is also used to sometimes specify hard bitumens and pitches

FLASH AND FIRE POINT TEST

(IS 1209)
PURPOSE Flash point test gives an indication of the critical temperature at and above which suitable precautions should be taken while heating the bitumen. FLASH POINT: it is the minimum temperature at which bituminous binder starts emitting the volatile vapours and these volatile vapours can momentarily catch fire though the binder does not burn itself. FIRE POINT: on further heating it is the lowest temperature at which application of test flame causes the binder material to ignite and burn atleast for 5 seconds under specified conditions.