ANALYSIS ON THE FACTORS AFFECTING THE CBR VALUE OF SILT ROADBED

Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by Tecnologico De Costa Rica on 09/18/17. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

LIU Zhanliang1, ZHANG Yongman2 and DI Jianhong3

1
Department of Transportation, Shijiazhuang Institute of Railway Technology,
Shijiazhuang 050041, China: PH: (086)15027739515; email: lzldjh@126.com
2
School of Civil Engineering, Shijiazhuang Railway Institute, Shijiazhuang 050043,
China: PH(086)13103015706; email: z-y-m77@126.com
3
Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Shijiazhuang Railway Institute,
Shijiazhuang 050043, China; PH(086)15930418035; email: lzldududjh@163.com

Abstract: The silt has engineering defects and its CBR value (California bearing
ratio) is low while be taken as roadbed filling. In order to analyze the influence of
different factors on the CBR value of the silt roadbed, the CBR value is measured by
changing silt particle contents, initial water contents, adding different salt and salt
contents, changing overload pressure. The influence characteristics of different
factors were also analyzed. The specimens were fabricated by heavy compaction
criterion and soaked in water for four days. The standard penetration test was used
to measure CBR value. The test results show that the CBR value of silt filling
become larger as the silt particle content reduced. The initial moisture content has
remarkable influence on the CBR value, and the CBR value reaches the maximum
with the optimum water content. The different salt and salt content have different
effects on the CBR value, and the CBR value reduces to a great extent as the salt
content increases. The overload pressure also has great influence on the CBR value,
which became larger as the overload pressure increased. The research shows that
they are useful methods to improve bearing capacity of silt roadbed by adding sand,
controlling the compacted moisture content, reducing the salt content and preloading.
Key words: road engineering, roadbed, silt, bear capacity, factors,

1 Introduction
The silt is often used as the main roadbed filing material where the silt
distributes widely. The California Bearing Ratio (CBR) is an important index of
roadbed strength. The strength of silt roadbed is low. The silt is usually modified by
increasing compaction effort or mixed with ash, and a definite effect is achieved. The
two treatment methods are very simple for the silts in different districts are different
in properties. In order to put forward new treatment methods, the research is
performed to analyze the effects of different factors on the CBR value of silt roadbed.
Through an entitative engineering, the influence characteristics of the different
factors on the CBR value were analyzed, and the effective treatment methods were
proposed.

1814

Copyright ASCE 2009 International Conference on Transportation Engineering 2009 (ICTE 2009)
International Conference on Transportation Engineering 2009
 ICTE 2009 1815

2 Materials and Methods

2.1 Material
Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by Tecnologico De Costa Rica on 09/18/17. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

The soil was taken from the construction site of one national highway and the
physical and mechanical properties of the silt were tested. The detail results were
shown in Table1 and Table 2.

Particle composition of the soil samples

Table 1
Sand particlemm Silt particlemm Clay particlemm
Particle size
0.250.075 0.0750.005 0.005
Percentage of particle% 5.1 90.8 4.1

Property of mechanics and physics of the soil samples

Table 2
Liquid Plastic Maximum dry Optimum Swelling CBR value CBR value
Index limit limit density water content capacity before soaked after soaked
% % gcm-3 % % % %
Silt soil 27.3 18.9 1.84 13.4 0.83 23 3.7

The data indicates that the water has great effect on the CBR value of silt
roadbed and the strength of soaking silt roadbed can not meet the requirement of the
Highway Subgrade Construction Technological Regulation, therefore the silt cannot
be used in roadbed without any treatments. When the silt has a wide distribution in a
certain area, the exchange soil method is impractical. It is an effective method by
taking advantage of local material by modifying the silt to meet the engineering
requirements, which will improve working effect and decrease the cost. Some
support will be provided to modify the silt roadbed through the research on the
influence of different factors to the CBR value of the silt roadbed.
2.2 Methods
In order to analyze the effect of different factors on the CBR value of silt
roadbed, the CBR values were measured by changing silt particle contents, initial
water contents, adding different salt and salt contents, changing overload pressure.
The influence characteristics of different factors were analyzed. The silt specimens
for the CBR test were made by compaction test. The strength of silt roadbed is
sensitive to water, and the CBR of soaking silt can reflect the long-tern stability of
the silt roadbed, so the CBR values were measured after the specimens have been
soaked in water for four days.
(1)Test method for the effect of sand content
The silt sample sieved through 0.075mm pore was taken in this paper. The silt
below the sieve was mixed with the different contents clean sand and the sand
contents were set on 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%. The soil sample was compacted
to make specimens with 7% water content. The compaction test was divided into

Copyright ASCE 2009 International Conference on Transportation Engineering 2009 (ICTE 2009)
International Conference on Transportation Engineering 2009
 1816 ICTE 2009

three layers, and the specimen was compacted 98 times in every layers. The CBR test
was done after the specimens had been soaked in water for four days.
Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by Tecnologico De Costa Rica on 09/18/17. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

(2)Test method for the effect of initial water content

The CBR values of the silt sample were measured with four different initial
water contents which included 10.4%, 16.4%, 19.4% and the optimum water content
was 13.4%. During the specimen compaction, the compaction test was divided into
three layers, and three different compaction works were used which included 3*50
times3*73 times and 3* 98 times. The CBR values were measured after the silt
specimens had been soaked in water for four days.
(3)Test method for the effect of different salts and salt content
With the different water contents, the silt was added by 1% sodium chloride, 2%
sodium chloride, 1% sodium sulfate and 2% sodium sulfate. The compaction test was
divided into three layers, and the specimen was compacted 98 times in every layer.
The CBR values were measured after the silt specimens had been soaked in water for
four days.
(4)Test method for the effect of overload pressure
When the making test specimens have been completed, the paper researched the
influence of overload pressure on the CBR value during soaked in water. Three
different overload pressures were used, such as 2500MPa  5000MPa and
20000MPa.

3 Results and Analysis

3.1 Effect of sand content on the CBR value
The results of the influence of different sand contents on the CBR value were
shown in the Figure 1.

100 2
y = 0.0029x + 0.3985x + 5.0143
80
R2 = 0.9763
CBR value/%

60
40
20
0
0 25 50 75 100
Sand content/%

Figure 1Effect of the sand content to the CBR value

The test results show that

(1)The sand content has great effect to the CBR value of the silt roadbed. The
CBR value of the soaking silt roadbed will increase with the sand content improved.

Copyright ASCE 2009 International Conference on Transportation Engineering 2009 (ICTE 2009)
International Conference on Transportation Engineering 2009
 ICTE 2009 1817

(2)The different soil types have different compositions of the shear resistance.
The shear resistance performance of sand soil is mainly made up of internal friction,
Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by Tecnologico De Costa Rica on 09/18/17. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

while that of the clay soil is composed of both internal friction and cohesion. The
sand particles are relatively coarse and have rough surface, so the shear resistance of
sand soil is larger than that of silt soil. The shear resistance performance of the silt
can be improved by adding relative coarse sand particles, and its strength will also
increase with the enhanced sand content.
(3) The silt and clay particles have stronger moisture holding capacity than the
sand particles. When the silt has been soaked in water, the hydrate film between the
silt and clay particles becomes thin. When the CBR test is done in silt specimen, the
friction between the soil particles are not direct friction by particle surface but
friction by hydrate film. The hydrate film plays a role like lubricate, the friction
decreases evidently with the thickness of the hydrate film increased, so the shear
resistance becomes lower. With the content of sand particle increased, the holding
capacity of soil particle becomes worse and the thickness of hydrate film becomes
thinner, so the influence of water on the silt becomes weaken.
3.2 Effect of the initial water contents
The effect of different initial water contents on the CBR value were shown in
the Figure 2.
25 3*50
CBR value/%

20 3*74
15
3*98
10
5
0
10.4 13.4 16.4 19.4
Water content/%

Figure 2Effect of the initial water content to the CBR value

The test results show that
(1)All the CBR values curve of different compaction work has a single peak,
and the CBR value arrive the peak with the optimum water content.
(2)The different compaction works have significant effect on the CBR value of
the silt. The CBR value will increase as the compaction work improved, but the
growth of the CBR value is not linearly related with the compaction work.
(3) With a certain compaction workwhen the water content is lowthe void of
the soil can be filled with waterand the hydrate film on the soil particle surface is
thinnerand the electrostatic attraction of ion in the hydrate film is strong, so the soil
particles are adhered to form relative strength. With the water content increasing, the
volume of water will exceed the void of soil, the hydrate film will become thicken,
the adsorptive capacity between soil particles will become weaker, and the friction
between the soil particles will decrease for the thick hydrate film. So the CBR value

Copyright ASCE 2009 International Conference on Transportation Engineering 2009 (ICTE 2009)
International Conference on Transportation Engineering 2009
 1818 ICTE 2009

firstly increased and then decreased as the water content improved.

3.3 Effect of different salt and contents to the CBR value
Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by Tecnologico De Costa Rica on 09/18/17. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

The results for the effect of the different salts and contents on the CBR value
were shown in the Figure 3.
25 Silt soil
Silt soil+1%NaCl2
20
Silt soil+2%NaCl2
CBR value/%

15 Silt soil+1%Na2SO4
Silt soil+2%Na2SO4
10

0
10.4 13.4 16.4 19.4
Water content/%

Figure 3Effect of different salts and different salt content to the CBR value
The test results show that
(1)The salts can decrease the CBR value of silt. The CBR value of the five
different silt specimens all present a single peak curve with the changing of water
contents. The five silt specimens all arrives the peak at the optimum water content.
For the same salt content, the sodium sulfate has more influence on the CBR value
than sodium chloride.
(2)The mechanism that the chloride can reduce the CBR value shows, when the
soil is soaked in the chloride solutionthe solid crystal salts are constantly dissolved
and excluded, then the void of soil increases, and the soil becomes an unstable
structure and easily occurs collapse, so the chlorate can reduce the CBR value of silt.
(3)The mechanism that the sulfate can reduce the CBR value shows, when the
sodium sulfate in soil losses water, and the sodium sulfate will become sodium
sulfate crystal, which can cause volume expansion, so the soil become loose and the
strength decreases.
3.4 Effect of the overload pressure
The results for the effect of different overload pressures on the CBR value
were shown in the Figure.
12
2500MPa
10
5000MPa
CBRvalue/%

8 20000MPa
6

0
10.4 13.4 16.4 19.4
Water content/%

Figure 4Effect of different overload pressure to the CBR value

Copyright ASCE 2009 International Conference on Transportation Engineering 2009 (ICTE 2009)
International Conference on Transportation Engineering 2009
 ICTE 2009 1819

The test results show that:

(1)The overload pressure has great effect on the CBR value of silt. With the
Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by Tecnologico De Costa Rica on 09/18/17. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

same water content, the CBR value will increase as the overload pressure improved.
When the overload pressure is increased, the water can not easily enter the void of
soil during soaked in water, so the water film between the particles becomes thinner
and the CBR value increases.
(2)With the same overload pressure, the CBR value of the soaked silt presents a
single peak with changing of the water content. The CBR value will reach the peak
with the optimum water content.

4 Conclusions
(1)The CBR value of the soaked silt will increase with the sand content
improved. Adding sand to silt can improve the silt roadbed strength, so the method is
economically feasible.
(2)The water content and compaction work have remarkable influence on the
construction effect of the silt, so the two factors should be strictly controlled in the
construction.
(3)The soluble salt can decrease the CBR value of the silt roadbed. The sulfate
and chloride have different influence. For the same kind salt, the CBR value will
decrease as salt content improved. In the road maintenance and construction, some
measures should be adopted to decrease the salt content and prevent the soluble into
the roadbed.
(4)The CBR value of silt will increase with the overload pressure improved.
Overpressure can be taken to improve the CBR value in the construction.

References

PENG Liyun, LIU Jiankun(2007). Mechanics Properties of Compacted Silt on

Beijing-Kowloon Railway.JOURNAL OF BEIJING JIAOTONG
UNIVERSITY.,31(4),56-60
XU Xiuxiang, HAO Qingfen(2007). The Experiment Stady of Shear Strength
Parameter for the Regional Saturated Cohesion Soil and the Silty Soil in
Liaoning --Taking Area of Panjin City for Instance.Journal of Shenyang
Jianzhu University: Natural Science,23(6),936-940
YE Qiongtao(2007), Experimental Study on Improved High Liquid Limit Red
Clay. Highway, 10, 148-151
ZHOU Zhijun(2007), Experiment on engineering mechanics property of earth-rock
mixtures in road. Journal of Changan University: Natural Science Edition,
27(5),11-15

Copyright ASCE 2009 International Conference on Transportation Engineering 2009 (ICTE 2009)
International Conference on Transportation Engineering 2009