Modulus-Suction-Moisture Relationship for Compacted Soils

in Postcompaction State
A. Sawangsuriya1; T. B. Edil2; and P. J. Bosscher3

Abstract: Despite clear evidence, changes in mechanical properties 共i.e., stiffness or modulus兲 of compacted subgrades in response to
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subgrade moisture regime changes after construction have rarely been investigated in the geotechnical profession. In particular, when
in-service assessment of pavement subgrade is made, the modulus-moisture variation should be addressed on the basis of unsaturated soil
mechanics. This study presents the unsaturated small-strain modulus behavior of five predominately fine-grained compacted subgrade
soils. The small-strain shear modulus 共Go兲 of saturated compacted specimens subjected to a desorption soil-water characteristic curve
共SWCC兲 was evaluated using bender elements. A test apparatus was designed to apply two stress state variables, the net confining pressure
and matric suction, during the Go measurements. The relationship between Go and the SWCC under a constant mean net stress was
developed. Additionally, the effect of compaction moisture content, compaction energy, and soil type on the Go-SWCC relationship was
investigated. Finally, a relationship describing the small-strain modulus behavior of unsaturated compacted soils is proposed.
DOI: 10.1061/共ASCE兲GT.1943-5606.0000108
CE Database subject headings: Stiffness; Suction; Soil compaction; Moisture; Soil water; Shear waves; Shear modulus; Compacted
soils; Unsaturated soils.

Introduction on such a relationship is also investigated. The small-strain modu-

Subgrade moisture is sensitive to rise in water table, infiltration,
and evaporation. Changes in subgrade soil moisture and hence in
its modulus can occur over the service life of a pavement system
irrespective of the initial moisture conditions imposed during con-
struction. The variation in subgrade modulus with moisture and
suction, however, has not been addressed systematically to reflect
mechanical behavior of compacted subgrades after construction
共i.e., during postcompaction state兲. The influences of suction and
moisture should be considered in pavement subgrade performance
assessment in such a way that the anticipated in-service condi-
tions are taken into account. Laboratory test protocols and meth-
ods need to be developed for identifying and examining factors
and conditions associated with the variation of soil modulus with
moisture and suction in order to improve the pavement subgrade
performance assessment.
The objective of this study is therefore to develop the small-
strain shear modulus-matric suction-volumetric water content re-
lationship of predominately fine-grained compacted subgrade
soils in the postcompaction state. Moreover, the influence of soil
type, initial compaction moisture content, and compaction energy
1
Civil Engineer, Dept. of Highways, Road and Pavement Design Di-
vision, Bureau of Materials, Analysis and Inspection, Bangkok, Thailand.
E-mail: sawangsuriya@gmail.com
2
Professor, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Univ. of
Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706 共corresponding author兲. E-mail: edil@
engr.wisc.edu
3
Deceased; formerly, Professor, Dept. of Civil and Environmental En-
gineering, Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706.
Note. This manuscript was submitted on May 13, 2007; approved on
May 6, 2008; published online on February 21, 2009. Discussion period
open until March 1, 2010; separate discussions must be submitted for
individual papers. This paper is part of the Journal of Geotechnical and
Geoenvironmental Engineering, Vol. 135, No. 10, October 1, 2009.
©ASCE, ISSN 1090-0241/2009/10-1390–1403/$25.00.
lus allows studying the modulus change on the same specimen
without disturbance and, being independent of strain amplitude, it
serves as a fundamental measure of stress-strain relationship. Be-
sides, most field pavement evaluations methods involve small-
strain modulus 共e.g. spectral analysis of surface waves test兲 and a
good correlation to resilient modulus is shown 共Nazarian et al.
2003兲.
Review of Past Studies
Moisture changes in subgrade soils beneath pavements have been
investigated and it appears that under a given environmental and
climatic regime, subgrade moisture eventually reaches equilib-
rium after construction and maintains it 共Russam 1965; Thadka-
malla and George 1995; Uzan 1998兲. This equilibrium moisture
regime can be represented by soil suction that can be correlated to
the average value of Thornthwaite climatic index 共Im兲 共Thornth-
waite 1948兲, which is a characteristic of a site’s climatic influence
over a distinct period 共Russam and Coleman 1961; Edil and
Motan 1979; Dempsey 1979; Lytton 1997兲. Since the distribution
of moisture and suction in the soils depends on their soil-water
characteristics, Lytton 共1997兲 recommended the use of the soil-
water characteristic curve of a given site to determine the equi-
librium soil suction. The equilibrium soil suction value of
subgrade soils can also be determined based on the average Im
value and soil index properties, i.e., percent passing No. 200 and
plasticity index 共Perera et al. 2004兲.
Additionally, the concept of soil suction provides a fundamen-
tal basis that reflects the modulus behavior of a soil 共Edil 1973;
Edil and Krizek 1976兲. With the exception of cementation bonds,
the matric suction is a measure of the combined effects of the
forces holding the water in the soil and hence it can be considered
to include implicitly the effects of the fundamental interaction
forces that influence the deformation characteristics of the soil

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 Table 1. Properties of Test Soils
Clayey sand Silt 共Red Wing, Lean clay-1 Lean clay-2 Fat clay
Properties 共Anaheim, California兲 Minnesota兲 共Red Lake Falls, Minnesota兲 共MnRoad, Minnesota兲 共DI TH23 Slopes, Minnesota兲
Sample designationa SC ML CL-1 CL-2 CH
AASHTOb A-2-4共0兲 A-4共0兲 A-7-6共23兲 A-4共0兲 A-7-6共60兲
Liquid limit 28 28 42 26 85
Plastic index 14 11 24 9 52
Percent sand 共%兲 59 11.9 8.9 36.3 3.1
Percent silt 共%兲 23 82.4 63.8 45.3 21.2
Percent clay 共%兲 18 5.7 27.3 14.5 75.2
Percent fines 共%兲 41 88.1 91.1 59.7 96.4
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Specific gravity 2.70 2.69 2.69 2.66 2.75

Optimum moisture
content 共%兲c 13.5 13.5
Maximum dry unit
weight 共kN/ m3兲 c 18.5 17.9
a
Letters in sample designation refer to Unified Soil Classification System soil symbol.
b
American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.
c
ASTM D 698.
共Edil 1973兲. Influence of moisture and suction change on the me-
chanical behavior of unsaturated soils has been recognized in the
geotechnical profession. A number of experimental investigations
have focused on the relationship of the suction and 共or兲 moisture
with modulus of soil 共Fredlund et al. 1975, 1977; Edil and Motan
1979; Edil et al. 1981; Motan and Edil 1982; Mancuso et al.
2002; Costa et al. 2003; Inci et al. 2003; Khoury and Zaman
2004; Sawangsuriya et al. 2005兲. From the previous studies by
these investigators 共Edil and Motan 1979; Edil et al. 1981; Motan
and Edil 1982; Mancuso et al. 2002; Costa et al. 2003; Khoury
and Zaman 2004; Sawangsuriya et al. 2005兲, modulus has been
shown to increase with increasing matric suction. Most of the
previous investigations, however, involved other types of moduli
rather than small-strain modulus. In those few investigations that
involved small-strain modulus 关e.g., Mancuso et al. 共2002兲兴, it
was determined as a function of only the initial suction over a
limited suction range and involved only a single soil. Some recent
studies 关e.g. Mendoza and Colmenares 共2006兲, Ng and Xu
共2007兲兴 have also investigated the influence of matric suction on
small-strain shear modulus. However, there has been no system-
atic study of the small-strain shear modulus along the soil-water
characteristic curve 共SWCC兲 共i.e., matric suction and volumetric
water content relationship兲 over a large matric suction range on a
wide variety of typical fine-grained pavement subgrade soils.
Knowing the small-strain modulus-suction-moisture relationship
for a given soil type and compaction effort, the change in modu-
lus of compacted soils can be estimated from the given ranges of
equilibrium suction value over the service life of a pavement.
22.0 16.0 27.5
15.8 17.7 14.4
ML, CL-1, CL-2, and CH soils兲 were prepared at the optimum
moisture content with the standard Proctor effort. The SC soil was
chosen to investigate also the influence of compaction moisture
content and compaction energy. To study the effect of compaction
moisture content, the SC specimens were compacted at three dif-
ferent levels of compaction moisture content: 4% dry of optimum,
4% wet of optimum, and near optimum with the standard Proctor
effort. To study the effect of compaction energy, the SC speci-
mens were compacted at the optimum moisture content with three
different levels of compaction energy: reduced Proctor effort, the
standard Proctor effort, and enhanced Proctor effort, which corre-
spond to the number of hammer blows per layer of 15, 25, and 35,
respectively. The resulting compaction energy per unit volume of
soil used for reduced Proctor effort, the standard Proctor effort,
and enhanced Proctor effort is respectively 357, 594, and
832 kN-m/ m3. Fig. 1 illustrates the dry unit weight and moisture
content of the compacted specimens along with their compaction
curves. The marked data points on each curve represent the com-
pacted specimens prepared for the suction testing program, while
the curves represent the compaction characteristics of the soils.
Most of the specimens were prepared near the optimum compac-

Test Materials
Five types of predominately fine-grained subgrade soils were
tested in the study. They include clayey sand 共SC兲, silt 共ML兲, lean
clay-1 共CL-1兲, lean clay-2 共CL-2兲, and fat clay 共CH兲. The classi-
fication, index properties, and compaction characteristics of these
subgrade soils are summarized in Table 1.

Experimental Program

Specimen Preparation Fig. 1. Compaction data of test soils. Dash lines represent predeter-
To investigate the influence of soil type on modulus-suction- mined compaction curves; Enh Proc= enhanced proctor; Std Proc
moisture relationship, compacted specimens of the five soils 共SC, = standard proctor; Red Proc= reduced proctor.

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Fig. 2. Schematic diagram of the unsaturated small-strain modulus
test
tion water content of each soil, while, for some of the soils, the
specimens were also prepared on the dry and the wet side of the
optimum compaction water content.
The test specimens had a diameter of 73 mm and a height of
25 mm, which is a typical size for SWCC tests and were trimmed
from the standard Proctor specimens 共104 mm in diameter and
116 mm high兲. A stainless-steel retaining ring with a sharp bevel
was used to trim the specimens in the same manner used to trim
specimens for consolidation testing. Trimming was continued
until the soil filled the retaining ring. Excess soil on the top and
bottom of the ring was removed using a spatula. After trimming
was complete, the weight of the specimen and the gravimetric
water content of the excess soil were measured and the specimen
was saturated using a vacuum chamber filled with de-aired water
as described in ASTM D 6836.
Each end of the specimen was overlain by a piece of soaked
filter paper and a nonwoven geotextile. The specimen and geotex-
tiles were clamped between two retaining plates so as to prevent
swelling of the specimen when inundated. The retaining plates
contain a set of holes to ensure free flow of water to the specimen.
The entire assembly was submerged in a vacuum chamber to
create saturation. After this procedure, the specimen was removed
from the retaining plates and weighed to determine its initial
water content. The degree of saturation was computed to ensure
that the specimen was nearly saturated. If calculations indicated
that the specimen was not saturated, the procedure was repeated.
Once a high degree of saturation was achieved 共⬎96%兲, the
specimen was carefully extruded from the retaining ring and was
subjected to the small-strain modulus test. It should be noted that
the specimens having a degree of saturation greater than 96% is
considered as essentially saturated specimen in this study.
Unsaturated Small-Strain Modulus Test
Testing System
To investigate the small-strain modulus behavior of unsaturated
soils, a test apparatus was developed that allows control of two
stress state variables, the net confining pressure 共␴o − ua兲 and the
matric suction 共ua − uw兲, during the small-strain shear modulus
measurement. Fig. 2 illustrates a schematic diagram of the unsat-
urated small-strain modulus test. The test apparatus is comprised
of two major components: 共1兲 bender element testing system and
共2兲 a test cell that allows the two stress state variables applied on
the soil specimen.
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The bender element test, an elastic wave propagation tech-
nique, was employed to measure the shear wave velocity and the
corresponding small-strain shear modulus. A pair of bender ele-
ments 共i.e., one as a source and the other as a receiver兲 was
supported in a custom housing designed as a bolt-clamp anchor-
ing system. Detailed information about the bender elements used
and the bender element housing is provided in Sawangsuriya
共2006兲. The instrumentation system for the bender element test
consists of two major components: signal generator and digital
oscilloscope. A signal generator that produced a square pulse out-
put signal to a transmitting bender element was used. This signal
was precisely generated and controlled using LabVIEW 7 Ex-
press, a graphical programming language by National Instru-
ments. A square pulse with an amplitude varying from ⫾10 to
⫾50 V was used to enhance the response of the bender element-
soil system. The square input signal was used because it provided
a clear response regardless of soil modulus and was also advan-
tageous when the resonant frequency of the bender element-soil
system was unknown 共Kawaguchi et al. 2001; Lee and Santama-
rina 2005兲. A two-channel digital oscilloscope, PICO ADC200
high speed analog to digital converter, with a maximum sampling
rate of 50 megasamples per second 共MS/s兲 and a resolution of 8
bits was used to display and collect the signals from both the
transmitting and the receiving bender elements. Five receiving
signals were sampled and stacked to improve the signal-to-noise
ratio.
The test cell allowed separate control of cell pressure 共␴o兲 and
air pressure 共ua兲, whereas water pressure 共uw兲 was maintained at
the atmospheric condition. On the basis of the axis-translation
principle, two stress state variables, 共␴o-ua兲 and 共ua − uw兲, were
established. The matric suction 共ua − uw兲 was applied by increas-
ing ua while uw remained at atmospheric pressure during the test.
The net confining pressure 共␴o-ua兲 was kept constant at 35 kPa,
which represents the typical average confining pressure in a pave-
ment subgrade 关National Cooperative Highway Research Pro-
gram 共NCHRP兲 2004兴. A series of matric suctions were applied to
the specimen. The matric suction was incrementally increased and
the amount of water expelled from the specimen was measured
periodically using a horizontal capillary tube connected to the
water drainage line of the test cell. The matric suction was incre-
mented after the equilibrium was established 共i.e., the movement
of the air-water interface has ceased and no change in shear wave
velocity兲. The equilibration time for each increment varied from
12 h to several days. Since the volume of water expelled by an
increment in matric suction can be determined volumetrically
without removing the specimen from the cell, the water content
can be accurately tracked 关see Wang and Benson 共2004兲兴.
The test cell in which the small-strain shear modulus is mea-
sured can measure the SWCC to 1.5 MPa. A chilled mirror hy-
grometer 共ASTM D 6836兲 was used to measure the portion of the
SWCC corresponding to suctions in the range of 1–80 MPa. The
hygrometer used was WP4 Dewpoint PotentiaMeter 共Decagon
Devices, Pullman, WA兲, which works on the chilled mirror con-
cept. Although the chilled mirror hygrometer yields total suction,
the difference between matric suction and total suction is small at
very high suctions 共Leong et al. 2002兲. Therefore, the matric and
total suctions were considered comparable and suctions as mea-
sured from the hygrometer were combined with those from the
unsaturated small-strain modulus test setup without appreciable
error 关see Wang and Benson 共2004兲兴.
 Test Procedure
A saturated specimen prepared with the aforementioned proce-
dure was placed on the saturated high air-entry ceramic disk
which was fitted in the pedestal of the test cell. Care was taken to
ensure good contact between the specimen and the ceramic disk.
After putting the membrane on the specimen, a thick rubber band
with a steel clamp was put on the membrane to seal the disk and
the pedestal so as to avoid air leakage from the disk and the
pedestal. Two narrow slots were cut in the membrane at the mid-
height of the specimen in diametrically opposite locations to
allow insertion of a pair of horizontal bender elements into the
specimen. High-vacuum grease was applied around the bender
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element housing and over any gap to ensure a good seal and no
air leakage through the membrane. A thin elastic band was also
used to provide additional support for the bender elements. The
horizontally polarized shear wave 共Shh兲 was measured across the
diameter of the specimen 共i.e., horizontal plane兲 since the soil
fabric tended to be more uniform and homogenous in this plane.
The cell was then assembled.
The desorption 共drying兲 test was initiated by increasing the
cell pressure 共␴o兲 to induce the net confining pressure 共␴o − ua兲 of
35 kPa while maintaining the applied matric suction 共ua − uw兲 at
zero 共i.e., no air pressure, ua, was applied兲 and then the position
of the air-water interface in the horizontal capillary tube was re-
corded. Position of the air-water interface was recorded periodi-
cally after each increment of ␴o and ua has been applied. After
equilibrium was established for an applied suction 共i.e., the move-
ment of air-water interface has ceased兲, the travel time, ts,hh of
Shh-wave was measured across the diameter of the specimen. To Fig. 3. Shear wave time series during desaturation of CL-1 specimen
avoid the near-field component 共Sanchez-Salinero et al. 1986; compacted near optimum
Viggiani and Atkinson 1995兲, the first arrival of shear wave was
taken as the point of zero crossing after the first inflection of the
received signal, which corresponds to the first arrival of the shear
For suctions higher than 1,000 kPa, the chilled mirror hygrom-
wave based on experimental and numerical studies 共Viggiani and
eter was used. The suction measurements with the chilled mirror
Atkinson 1995; Kawaguchi et al. 2001; Lee and Santamarina
hygrometer were made following Method D in ASTM D 6836.
2005兲. The travel distance was taken as the tip-to-tip distance 共L兲
Several specimens were trimmed from the specimen used in the
between bender elements 共Dyvik and Madshus 1985; Viggiani test into polyethylene cups used in the hygrometer. Each cup was
and Atkinson 1995兲. Additional descriptions of the bender ele- 38 mm in diameter and 5 mm tall. The specimens were allowed to
ment tests are given in Sawangsuriya 共2006兲. air dry to different volumetric water contents, and then were
Finally, the velocity of Shh-wave was computed as Vs,hh sealed for 24 h to promote equilibration. Afterwards, cups con-
= L / ts,hh. Knowing Vs,hh and total mass 共bulk兲 density of the speci- taining the specimens were inserted into the hygrometer to deter-
men 共␳兲, which was computed at each suction based on the mea- mine total suction. Once the total suction was reported by the
sured change in volumetric water content, the small-strain shear hygrometer, the specimen was removed, the gravimetric water
modulus in the horizontal plane, Go,hh from Shh-wave was deter- content, mass, and volume were determined, and the volumetric
mined as Go,hh = ␳Vs,hh
2
. Note that the specimens are assumed to water content was computed. Typically three to six measurements
have a constant total volume throughout testing. After the tests were obtained using the hygrometer.
were completed, the specimens were measured for any volume
change. The measurements indicated very small volume change
for each specimen even for the high plasticity index 共PI兲 soils. Results and Discussion
The effect of this assumption on the computed G0, dry unit
weight, and volumetric water content is considered to be rela-
tively minor. The applied suction was then raised by the next Shear Wave Time Series
increment while keeping the net confining pressure constant at An example of the shear wave 共S-wave兲 time series is presented
35 kPa. The procedure was repeated until the maximum suction for the CL-1 soil compacted near optimum. The variation in travel
共⬃1 , 000 kPa兲 was achieved. Volumetric water contents were de- time during the desaturation process in this compacted specimen
termined from the volume of outflow at equilibrium measured in is shown in Fig. 3. Sawangsuriya 共2006兲 provided the S-wave
the horizontal capillary tube. Typically, 8–10 measurements of time series for all of the test soils. The travel time decreased as
Go,hh-matric suction-volumetric water content were obtained for the matric suction increased and the volumetric water content
each test. Oven-dried gravimetric water contents measured at the decreased 共i.e., as the specimen was drying along the SWCC兲. To
end of the test showed that the volumetric water content calcu- avoid the near-field effect, the first arrival of S-wave was taken as
lated from the outflow measurements was within 0.02 of the value the point of zero crossing after the first inflection of the received
of gravimetric water content. signal as indicated by the arrows 共Fig. 3兲. No near-field effect was

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 Table 2. SWCC Parameters for All Test Soils
Specimen ␪s ␣ n m
SC-Std-Opt⫺4% 0.311 0.032 1.212 0.175
SC-Std-Opt 0.269 0.002 1.596 0.373
SC-Std-Opt+4% 0.321 0.003 1.943 0.485
SC-Enh-Opt 0.286 0.001 1.432 0.301
SC-Red-Opt 0.292 0.002 1.977 0.494
ML-Std-Opt 0.338 0.031 1.582 0.368
CL-1-Std-Opt 0.375 0.004 1.285 0.222
CL-2-Std-Opt 0.325 0.002 1.338 0.250
CH-Std-Opt 0.535 0.000 4 1.694 0.410
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suction 共kPa兲; ␺r, ␣, n, and m = fitting parameters; and e is the

Fig. 4. SWCCs of five types of subgrade soils compacted near opti-
mum using standard Proctor effort. Line represents curve-fitting with
the Fredlund and Xing 共1994兲 equation. Measured data are given by
data points.
however observed in this test and no P-wave interference 共i.e.,
P-wave reflection兲 arrived earlier than the direct S-wave with the
specimen geometry used.
Soil-Water Characteristic Curve
The drying 共desorption兲 SWCC of the compacted soil specimens
as determined from the developed test apparatus under a constant
net confining pressure of 35 kPa are shown in Fig. 4. In addition,
three to six more data points at the dry end of the SWCC
共⬎1 , 000 kPa兲 are also included from the chilled mirror hygrom-
eter test assuming that there is not a substantial effect of the net
confining pressure on the SWCC at very high matric suctions 关see
also Hoyos et al. 共2005兲, Huat et al. 共2005兲兴. Sawangsuriya 共2006兲
provided the repeatability of the soil-water characteristic curve
determined using these methods.
A number of relationships have been proposed to describe the
highly nonlinear SWCC. Among these, the four-parameter rela-
tionships given by van Genuchten 共1980兲 and Fredlund and Xing
共1994兲 have been widely employed in engineering practice. Both
equations have a similar generic form that provides a sigmoid
shape of the SWCC applicable to most natural soils. These rela-
tionships are found to be the best in describing the SWCC data of
a variety of soils 共Leong and Rahardjo 1997兲. In this study, the
SWCC test data was modeled by fitting the Fredlund and Xing
equation using a least-squared optimization algorithm. The Fred-
lund and Xing equation given below was selected because it pro-
vides a better curve-fitting for the SWCC data of a variety of soils
共Leong and Rahardjo 1997兲 and it also includes an additional
term that allows the volumetric water content to be zero at the
high suction of 106 kPa 共Croney and Coleman 1961; Koorevaar
et al. 1983兲, which is supported by thermodynamic theory 共i.e., at
a temperature of 20° C and a relative humidity of 0.01%, soil
suction equals 1,026,289 kPa兲.
base of natural logarithms. This equation is similar to the van
Genuchten 共1980兲 equation. Moreover, since the pore-size distri-
bution function used by Fredlund and Xing 共1994兲 is a modifica-
tion of the pore-size distribution function given by van Genuchten
共1980兲, the fitting parameters in Fredlund and Xing equation 共i.e.,
␺r, ␣, n, and m兲 have the same meanings as those in van Genu-
chten 共1980兲 and affect the shape of the SWCC in a similar fash-
ion 共Leong and Rahardjo 1997; Yang et al. 2004兲. However, the
only difference is that the Fredlund and Xing 共1994兲 forces the
SWCC through ␪ = 0 and ␺ = 106 kPa.
The optimization algorithm results in a set of SWCC param-
eters 共i.e., ␪s, ␣, n, and m兲. A summary of the SWCC parameters
for all test soils are presented in Table 2. Fig. 4 shows the fitted
SWCCs of the five subgrade soils compacted near optimum com-
paction moisture content using the standard Proctor effort. The
presence of clay content significantly affects the air-entry suction
of these compacted soils because these soils contain much smaller
pore sizes. As shown in Fig. 4, the air-entry suction of CH soil 共%
clay ⬃75兲 is highest, whereas the ML soil 共% clay ⬃6兲 has the
lowest air-entry suction. The air-entry suction of CL-1, CL-2, and
SC soils is approximately similar 共see also Table 2兲. This is at-
tributed to the fact that clays exhibit higher air-entry suction than
silty soils 共Tinjum et al. 1997; Miller et al. 2002兲. Increased clay
content causes an increase in the amount of water retained at a
given suction and desaturation at higher matric suction.
Modulus-Suction Relationship
The relationships between small-strain shear modulus 共Go兲 and
matric suction for the SC specimens compacted with different
initial compaction moisture contents and compaction energies and
the ML, CL-1, CL-2, CH specimens compacted near optimum
moisture content 共all subjected to a net confining pressure of 35
kPa兲 are shown in Figs. 5–7. In general, Go increases with in-
creasing matric suction in the range of matric suctions measured
共i.e., from 0 to ⬃1 , 000 kPa兲. Note that this suction range is of
practical interest for unsaturated soil behavior and is also typi-
cally encountered in engineering work, i.e., less than 700 kPa
共Olson and Langfelder 1965兲. The modulus increases with matric
suction as reported by Edil and Motan 共1979兲, Edil et al. 共1981兲,

冉 冊
and Motan and Edil 共1982兲.

冤 冥再
␺

冎
ln 1 + Initial compaction moisture content causes significant differ-
␪ ␺r 1 m
ences in the variation of Go with matric suction. Increasing initial

冉 冊
⌰= = 1− · 共1兲 compaction moisture content causes a reduction in Go. As shown
␪s 106 ln关e + 共␣␺兲n兴
ln 1 + in Fig. 5, for any given matric suction, the SC specimen com-
␺r
pacted dry of optimum has the highest Go. The SC specimen
where ⌰ = normalized volumetric water content; ␪ = volumetric compacted wet of optimum has the lowest Go, although the
water content; ␪s = saturated volumetric water content; ␺ = soil SWCC of the SC specimen compacted wet of optimum lies above

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Fig. 5. Go-matric suction relationship for the SC specimens com-
pacted with different compaction moisture contents and subjected to a
net confining pressure of 35 kPa
those compacted near optimum and dry of optimum moisture con-
tents 共i.e., the volumetric water content or the degree of saturation
of the wet of optimum moisture content specimen at any given
matric suction is higher when compared to the optimum and dry
of optimum moisture content specimens兲. Therefore, the wet of
optimum compacted specimen tend to exhibit a weaker soil fabric
with respect to the dry of optimum compacted specimen at differ-
ent suctions. Similar observations were reported in Mancuso et al.
共2002兲, Khoury and Zaman 共2004兲, and Sawangsuriya et al.
共2005兲. At lower suctions, modulus increases by nearly two folds
by decreasing initial compaction moisture content from 4% wet of
optimum to 4% dry of optimum. The effect becomes smaller as
the suction increases.
Go of the SC specimen compacted near optimum using the
enhanced Proctor effort 共Fig. 6兲 is comparable to that compacted
near optimum using the standard Proctor effort for any given
matric suction, whereas Go of the SC specimen compacted near
optimum using the reduced Proctor effort is the smallest. The
reduced Proctor effort induces a weaker soil fabric with respect to
the enhanced or standard Proctor efforts. Go increases nearly two
times as the compaction energy increases from the reduced Proc-
tor effort 共357 kN-m/ m3兲 to the standard Proctor effort
共594 kN-m/ m3兲 at all suction levels. The variation of Go with
respect to matric suction for the remaining four soils compacted
near optimum is shown in Fig. 7. The results from five types of
soils compacted with standard Proctor effort 关Figs. 6共b兲 and 7兴
JOURNAL OF GEOTECHNICAL AND GEOENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING © ASCE / OCTOBER 2009 / 1395
J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng. 2009.135:1390-1403.
Fig. 6. Go-matric suction relationship for the SC specimens com-
pacted with different compaction energies and subjected to a net con-
fining pressure of 35 kPa
indicate that at any given matric suction, the SC specimen has the
highest Go, whereas the CH specimens have lowest Go. This
might be attributed to the index properties and composition of the
tested soils 共e.g. plasticity index, fine fraction, and clay content兲.
The percent increase in Go of these specimens from zero ap-
plied suction 共or at saturation兲 to 103 kPa suction 共i.e., three loga-
rithmic cycles兲 ranges from 100–520%. Larger increase in Go was
observed in the specimens having lower initial compaction mois-
ture content, higher compaction energy, and higher percent sand.
Modulus-Moisture Relationship
The relationship between the small-strain shear modulus 共Go兲 and
the volumetric water content for the SC specimens compacted
with different compaction moisture content and compaction ener-
gies and the ML, CL-1, CL-2, and CH specimens compacted near
optimum moisture content is illustrated in Figs. 8–10. In general,
Go increases as the volumetric water content decreases 共i.e., fol-
lowing the drying curve兲 for the range of volumetric water con-
tents measured. Consistent tendency were also observed for the
resilient modulus-equilibrium gravimetric water content relation-
ship 共Edil and Motan 1979兲 and Go degree of saturation relation-
ship 共Inci et al. 2003兲.
The effect of initial compaction moisture content on
Go-volumetric water content relationship is similar to that of the
Go-matric suction relationship. That is, Go increases with decreas-
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Fig. 7. Go-matric suction relationship for the ML, CL-1, CL-2, and
CH specimens compacted near optimum and subjected to a net con-
fining pressure of 35 kPa
ing initial compaction moisture content. As the volumetric water
content decreases, changes in Go for the SC specimen compacted
wet of optimum appeared to be more significant than those com-
pacted dry of optimum 共Fig. 8兲. The effect of compaction energy
on Go-volumetric water content relationship is shown in Fig. 9.
Go increases with increasing compaction energy. However, the
highest increase in Go occurred for the SC specimen compacted
near optimum using the reduced Proctor effort, whereas the low-
est increase occurred in the enhanced Proctor effort specimen.
The Go-volumetric water content relationships of four other soil
types compacted near optimum are shown in Fig. 10. By compar-
ing the Go of five types of compacted soils compacted with stan-
dard Proctor effort 关Figs. 9共b兲 and 10兴, Go of the SC specimen is
the highest and that of the CH specimen is the lowest at a given
moisture content. The highest increase in Go with volumetric
water content was observed in the SC specimen, while gradual
changes in Go were obtained in the ML specimen.
The volumetric water contents over the full range of suctions
was substantially lower for the SC specimen compacted dry of
optimum and that compacted with enhanced Proctor effort as well
as the ML specimen. Much less change occurred in volumetric
water content for the SC specimen compacted wet of optimum
and that compacted with reduced Proctor effort as well as the
CL-1, CL-2, and CH specimens 共Figs. 8–10兲. However, percent
1396 / JOURNAL OF GEOTECHNICAL AND GEOENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING © ASCE / OCTOBER 2009
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Fig. 8. Go-volumetric water content relationship for the SC speci-
mens compacted with different compaction moisture contents and
subjected to a net confining pressure of 35 kPa
increase in Go is not directly proportional to the percent decrease
in the amount of volumetric water content. In other words, higher
increase in Go tended to occur for small decreases in volumetric
water content.
Mathematical Relationship for Small-Strain Modulus
of Unsaturated Soils
Development of the Model
Predicting modulus of unsaturated soils has received recently
greater interest in geotechnical research. The behavior of satu-
rated or dry soils is well-established in terms of effective stress.
However for partially saturated soils, a consistent model does not
yet exist for predicting soil modulus. This study aims to develop
a mathematical relationship to predict unsaturated soil modulus as
a function of moisture content and suction. The proposed model
relies on the physical soil properties and the SWCC to predict the
change in modulus with decreasing moisture content and increas-
ing suction along the drying path of the SWCC.
The small-strain shear modulus 共Go兲 of dry or saturated soils
can be estimated in terms of void ratio 共e兲, overconsolidation ratio
共OCR兲, and mean effective principle stress or confining pressure
共␴⬘o兲. The general expression for Go is written as follows 共Mitchell
and Soga 2005兲:
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Fig. 9. Go-volumetric water content relationship for the SC speci-
mens compacted with different compaction energies and subjected to
a net confining pressure of 35 kPa
Go = Af共e兲共OCR兲k共␴⬘o兲n
where A = material parameter which is associated with the soil
fabric or microstructure and type of soil; f共e兲 = void ratio function
which depends on the void ratio or density; k = OCR exponent
which depends on the plasticity index; and n = stress exponent
which is approximately 0.5 关see Sawangsuriya 共2006兲兴. Note that
since the specimens used in this study are reconstituted, the OCR
term was dropped from Eq. 共2兲 for compacted soils.
Fredlund et al. 共1975兲, indicated that the resilient modulus of
unsaturated soils 共M R兲us can be expressed as a function of three
stress variables, the net normal stress 共␴n-ua兲, matric suction 共ua
− uw兲, and deviator stress 共␴d兲. The relationship between resilient
modulus and the stress variables has been later confirmed by
Fredlund et al. 共1977兲. Oloo and Fredlund 共1998兲 suggested such
relationship be represented as follows:
For coarse-grained soils
共M R兲us = k␴nb + ks共ua − uw兲
For fine-grained soils
For k1 ⬎ ␴d 共M R兲us = k2 − k3共k1 − ␴d兲 + ks共ua − uw兲
For k1 ⬍ ␴d 共M R兲us = k2 + k4共␴d − k1兲 + ks共ua − uw兲
where k, k1, k2, k3, k4, and n = material constants determined ex-
perimentally; ␴b = bulk stress 共i.e., the summation of all three
JOURNAL OF GEOTECHNICAL AND GEOENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING © ASCE / OCTOBER 2009 / 1397
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Fig. 10. Go-volumetric water content relationship for the ML, CL-1,
共2兲 CL-2, and CH specimens compacted near optimum and subjected to
a net confining pressure of 35 kPa
principle stresses兲; and ks = parameter that defines the rate of
change of 共M R兲us with matric suction 共ua − uw兲. Note that the pa-
rameter ks is soil dependent and is similar in definition to 共tan ␾b兲
for the case of shear strength of unsaturated soils 共Fredlund et al.
1978兲.
Model 1
Due to the similarity in the stress dependency of resilient modulus
共Fredlund et al. 1996兲, the small-strain shear modulus of unsatur-
ated soils can be developed based on the formulations published
in the literature as presented in Eq. 共2兲 through Eq. 共3兲. The small-
strain shear modulus of unsaturated soils 共Go,us兲 consists of two
parts that incorporate two independent stress state variables 共i.e.,
共3兲 net normal stress and matric suction兲. The first part is inspired by
the Go-stress relationship of dry or saturated soils where the net
normal stress variable is expressed in terms of a power of the net
共4兲 confining pressure. The second part is inspired by the shear
strength and resilient modulus-matric suction relationships given
for unsaturated soils. Based on these considerations, the following
共5兲
relationship is proposed to describe the variation of small-strain
shear modulus in the horizontal plane from Shh-wave, 共Go,us兲hh, in
response with the SWCC is therefore expressed as:
 共Go,us兲hh = Af共e兲共␴o − ua兲n + B共ua − uw兲 共6兲
where 共␴␱ − ua兲 = net confining pressure; B is a new parameter
introduced in the proposed model so as to define the rate of
change of Go,us with respect to matric suction 共ua − uw兲 and is also
soil dependent. The parameter B is similar in definition to tan ␾b
for the case of shear strength of unsaturated soils 共Fredlund et al.
1978兲 and ks for the case of resilient modulus of unsaturated soils
共Oloo and Fredlund 1998兲. To provide a theoretical basis for the
use of the SWCC in predicting Go,us, the normalized volumetric
water content 共⌰兲 is included in the model to reflect the amount
of water in the soil from the saturated to dry condition as sug-
gested by Vanapalli et al. 共1996兲. In the case of the shear strength
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of unsaturated soils, Vanapalli et al. 共1996兲 related a parameter
tan ␾b with ⌰␬ tan ␾⬘. This implies a simple linear relationship
between tan ␾b and ⌰␬ by having tan ␾⬘ as a linear fitting coef-
ficient. Since the contribution of matric suction on shear modulus
can be considered similar to that on shear strength 共i.e., increase
or decrease the particle contact points兲. By having a constant C as
a linear fitting coefficient, the parameter B can be rewritten as
B = C⌰␬ 共7兲
Finally, by replacing Eq. 共7兲 in Eq. 共6兲, Go,us is rewritten in the
following form:
␬
共Go,us兲hh = Af共e兲共␴o − ua兲 + C⌰ 共ua − uw兲
n
共8兲
where A, C, and ␬ = fitting parameters optimized to obtain a best-
fit between the measured and the predicted values. For this model,
the parameter f共e兲 used is given by Hardin 共1978兲 for sands and
clays and is expressed as 1 / 共0.3+ 0.7e2兲. This void ratio function
has been previously employed by several investigators 关see Acar
and El-Tahir 共1986兲, Hardin and Blandford 共1989兲, Inci et al.
共2003兲兴. The stress exponent n used is 0.5.
Model 2
Another quantitative approach to describe the dependency of the
SWCC on Go,us is to employ the single-valued effective stress
state variable based on the effective stress principle for unsatur-
ated soils 共Bishop 1959兲, which has been recently examined to be
a promising alternative to the use of two independent nonadditive
stress variables in separated form 共Khalili et al. 2004; Lu and
Griffiths 2004兲
␴⬘o = 共␴o − ua兲 + ␹共ua − uw兲 共9兲
where ␴⬘o = mean effective principle stress; 共␴␱ − ua兲 = net confining
pressure; 共ua − uw兲 = matric suction; and ␹ = Bishop’s effective
stress parameter. The parameter ␹ reflects the proportions of area
共a兲 contributed by water 共aw兲 共or ␹ = aw / a兲. Therefore, for a satu-
rated soil, the pore air pressure is zero, the parameter ␹ is equal to
one, and ␴o⬘ = ␴o − uw. For a completely dry soil, the parameter ␹ is
equal to zero and ␴o⬘ = ␴o − ua. For partially saturated soils, the
parameter ␹ varies between zero and one, and reflects the propor-
tion of matric suction or degree of saturation that contributes to
the effective stress.
However, difficulties in the evaluation of the parameter ␹ have
limited the use of the effective stress principle for unsaturated
soils 共Mitchell and Soga 2005兲. These difficulties include the
complexity in determining ␹ and the lack of a unique relationship
between ␹ and degree of saturation. The parameter ␹ is related to
soil structure 共Coleman 1962兲 and the relationship between ␹ and
the degree of saturation is soil dependent. Nonetheless, several
mathematical forms of ␹ as a function of degree of saturation or
as a function of matric suction have been proposed for unsatur-
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ated soils 共Vanapalli et al. 1996; Oberg and Sallfors 1997; Bao et
al. 1998; Khalili and Khabbaz 1998兲. Such forms are fundamen-
tally the same because the degree of saturation is related to matric
suction through the SWCC. Vanapalli and Fredlund 共2000兲 exam-
ined several forms of ␹. For a suction range between 0 and 15,000
kPa, the following form provided a good fit to the experimental
results 共Vanapalli and Fredlund 2000兲
␹ = ⌰␬ = 冉冊 冉 冊
␪
␪s
␬
=
Vw
Vv
␬
= S␬ 共10兲
where ⌰ = normalized volumetric water content; ␪ = volumetric
water content; ␪s = saturated volumetric water content; ␬ = fitting
parameter; Vw = volume of water; Vv = volume of voids; and S is
the degree of saturation. The exponent ␬ provides some flexibility
to fit ␹ between the measured and predicted values.
Using the form of ␹ given in Eq. 共10兲 in conjunction with Eq.
共9兲, quantitative predictions of Go in unsaturated soils can be
made with respect to the effective stress concept. By combining
Eqs. 共9兲 and 共10兲 with the general expression for Go, Go,us can be
rewritten in the form of
共Go,us兲hh = Af共e兲关共␴o − ua兲 + ⌰␬共ua − uw兲兴n 共11兲
where A, n, and ␬ are fitting parameters optimized to obtain a best
fit between the measured and the predicted values. Similar to the
first model, the parameter f共e兲 used is expressed as 1 / 共0.3
+ 0.7e2兲. It is important to note that all of the data presented in
this study had a constant net confining pressure representing typi-
cal pavement subgrade confinement. This is, therefore, a limita-
tion of the proposed model.
Model Application
The measured data obtained experimentally were best fitted with
the two proposed mathematical relationships using a least-squared
optimization algorithm. Figs. 5–10 show the measured data along
with the curve-fitting parameters. Regardless of the choice of
stress state variables, both models fitted to the data well within
the range of measured suctions 共i.e., up to 1,000 kPa兲. It should be
noted that both models exhibited similar curve-fitting to the data
at low suctions but considerably different at large suctions. The
plot of residuals as a function of parameter ␬ for all soil tested
共Sawangsuriya 2006兲 indicated that the residuals produced from
both models varied within the same order of magnitude. Note that
the experimental results also indicated a negligible volume
change of the soil specimens during desaturation. Therefore, both
proposed models can quantitatively describe the behavior of
small-strain shear modulus of unsaturated soils for essentially
nonexpansive or collapsible soils. The choice of stress state vari-
ables and the treatment of capillary forces in the macroscopic
effective stress equations are however still debated 共Mitchell and
Soga 2005兲. Nonetheless, two such stress state variables were
used in the development of elasto-plastic constitutive modeling
for unsaturated soils 共Wheeler and Sivakumar 1995; Houlsby
1997兲.
The fitting parameter ␬ of 1.0 was used to fit all of the data and
appeared to be appropriate within the measured suction range.
Note that the parameter ␬ typically ranges from 1.0 to 3.0, de-
pending on the type of soil 共Vanapalli and Fredlund 2000兲. Dif-
ferent values of ␬ were also examined in the study 共Sawangsuriya
2006兲. Larger ␬ resulted in smaller Go at high suctions. At very
high suctions, different values of ␬ might be used; however, the
curve-fitting model was not significantly impacted by the param-
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Fig. 11. Relationship of parameters A and C from Model 1 with
compaction conditions
eter ␬ for the range of the measured data. The plot of the param-
eter ␬ versus the residuals obtained from the optimization
procedures suggested that changes in ␬ from the first model
tended to cause larger variation of residuals, while smaller varia-
tion was obtained from the second model.
To understand the physical meanings of the curving-fitting pa-
rameters 共A, C, and n兲, the fitting parameters obtained from both
models are plotted against compaction moisture content, compac-
tion energy, and soil type. The parameter A obtained from both
models typically reflects the soil skeleton or fabric that forms the
microstructure of dry or saturated soil. When soil becomes unsat-
urated, the contact force distribution in the particle assembly be-
comes dependent on pore size location, distribution, and relative
locations of particles to one another 共or soil fabric兲 共Mitchell and
Soga 2005兲. Therefore, either the parameter C from Model 1 or
the parameter n from Model 2 reflects the contribution of matric
suction 共e.g. capillary force兲 on the contact between the soil par-
ticles in an unsaturated state. As shown in Figs. 11共a兲 and 12共a兲,
the parameter A decreases with compaction moisture content,
while both parameters C and n increase as compaction moisture
content increases. The plots of the fitting parameters and compac-
tion energy are shown in Figs. 11共b兲 and 12共b兲. In general, both
parameters A and C increase but parameter n decreases with com-
paction energy. The relationships with five type of soils tested
共Figs. 13 and 14兲 indicate that the fitting parameters exhibit some
trends with percent sand, percent fines, and plasticity index. The
dashed lines in Figs 11–14 are not fitted lines but intended to help
delineate the qualitative trends. Both parameters A and C decrease
as percent fines and plasticity index increase, whereas parameter
n increases with percent fines and plasticity index. In contrast, the
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J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng. 2009.135:1390-1403.
Fig. 12. Relationship of parameters A and n from Model 2 with
compaction conditions
parameters A and C increase with percent sand, while parameter n
decreases as percent sand increases. Since sand has higher
strength and stiffness than clay, increase in percent sand causes an
increase in soil modulus. On the other hand, soils with higher
percent fines and plasticity index tend to have lower strength and
stiffness. Note also that in general both parameters A and C have
similar trends but the parameter n exhibits an opposite trend. The
stiffer or denser compacted fabrics result in higher parameters A
and C but lower parameter n. Moreover, the higher percent fines
or soils with higher plasticity index results in lower parameter A
and C but higher parameter n.
The proposed modulus-SWCC relationship of the compacted
soils represents the lower boundary 共i.e., lowest possible modulus
values兲 as the measured SWCC follows the initial drying curve.
Although the modulus-SWCC relationship for the upper boundary
共i.e., the boundary wetting curve of the SWCC兲 is not obtained in
this study due to the difficulties in measuring the wetting SWCC,
the proposed modulus-SWCC relationship can be reasonably re-
duced by a factor or accepted as a conservative upper bound. This
assumption is based on the fact that under the same state of stress,
the change in modulus of a given soil is directly proportional to
the change in SWCC. As the soils are subjected to the wet-dry
cycles, the modulus of any compacted soils is anticipated to fall
underneath the upper boundary.
Summary and Conclusions
The behavior of modulus of compacted subgrade soils along the
desorption SWCC has been evaluated using the concurrent bender
 15000 (a) Model 1 1500
Parameter A

Parameter C
Parameter A
Parameter C
10000 1000

5000 500

0 0 20 40 60 80 100 0
% Silt
15000 (b) Model 1 1500
Parameter A

Parameter C
Parameter A

Parameter C
10000 1000
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5000 500

0 0 20 40 60 80 100 0
% Clay
15000 1500
(c) Model 1
Parameter A

Parameter C
10000 1000

5000 Parameter A 500

Parameter C

0 0 20 40 60 80 100 0
% Sand
15000 1500
(d) Model 1
Parameter A

Parameter C
10000 1000

5000 Parameter A 500

Parameter C

0 0 20 40 60 80 100 0
% Fines
15000 1500
(e) Model 1

Parameter A
Parameter A

Parameter C
10000 Parameter C 1000

5000 500

0 0 20 40 60 80 100 0
Plasticity Index

Fig. 13. Relationship of parameters A and C from Model 1 with percent silt, clay, sand, fines, and plasticity index

element test and the soil-water characteristic curve determination
based on the axis-translation technique. A test apparatus was de-
veloped in the study that is capable of applying an external stress
and incorporating two stress variables during the shear wave mea-
surement with the bender elements. The relationship between the
small-strain shear modulus 共Go兲 and the SWCC under a constant
net confining pressure of 35 kPa, representing a typical confining
pressure in the pavement subgrade layer, has been developed for
a range of compacted predominately fine-grained subgrade soils.
The relationship also takes into account the influences of compac-
tion conditions and soil type. Two mathematical relationships are
proposed to quantitatively describe Go-SWCC relationship ob-
tained experimentally.
In general, Go increases with increasing matric suction but
decreases with increasing volumetric water content. Initial com-
paction moisture content, through its control of soil fabric, causes
significant differences in the variation of Go with matric suction
and volumetric water content. Go increases with decreasing initial
compaction moisture content. The specimen compacted wet of
optimum moisture content has lower Go and tends to exhibit a
weaker soil fabric with respect to the specimen compacted dry of
optimum. Moreover, changes in soil fabric due to the differences
in initial compaction moisture content have significant contribu-
tion to Go-matric suction and Go-volumetric water content rela-
tionships. Increasing compaction energy results in higher Go.
Reduced Proctor effort induces a weaker soil fabric compared to
enhanced and standard Proctor efforts however, compaction effort
larger than the standard has little influence. Percent fines in the
soils tends to affect Go. Soils having higher initial compaction

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 30000 1.0
(a) Parameter A Model 2
25000 Parameter n 0.8

Parameter A

Parameter n
20000
0.6
15000
0.4
10000
5000 0.2

0 0 20 40 60 80 100 0.0
% Silt
30000 1.0
(b) Model 2
25000 0.8
Parameter A

Parameter n
20000
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0.6
15000 Parameter A
Parameter n
0.4
10000
5000 0.2

0 0 20 40 60 80 1000.0
% Clay
30000 1.0
(c) Model 2
25000 Parameter A 0.8
Parameter A

Parameter n
20000 Parameter n
0.6
15000
0.4
10000
5000 0.2

0 0 20 40 60 80 100 0.0
% Sand
30000 1.0
(d) Model 2
25000 Parameter A
0.8
Parameter A

Parameter n

Parameter n
20000
0.6
15000
0.4
10000
5000 0.2

0 0 20 40 60 80 100 0.0
% Fines
30000 1.0
(e) Model 2
25000 0.8
Parameter A

Parameter n
20000
0.6
15000
Parameter A 0.4
10000 Parameter n
5000 0.2

0 0 20 40 60 80 100 0.0
Plasticity Index

Fig. 14. Relationship of parameters A and n from Model 2 with percent silt, clay, sand, fines, and plasticity index

moisture content and higher percent plastic fines subjected to however, recommended to confirm the developed relationship be-
lower compaction energy result in lowest Go. tween the fitting parameters and the soil index properties.
Based on a well-established expression of Go and the mea-
sured SWCC, a mathematical relationship that incorporates two
stress state variables has been proposed along with the fitting Acknowledgments
parameters in order to describe the behavior of Go of unsaturated
This paper is dedicated to the memory of our coauthor Professor
compacted soils. The two stress variables are incorporated in the
Peter J. Bosscher.
model in two ways: either using two independent terms or a
single term. Both approaches quantitatively describe the Go be-
havior of the unsaturated compacted soils satisfactorily within the References
range of suctions tested. The fitting parameters obtained from
both models correlate reasonably well with compaction moisture Acar, Y. B., and El-Tahir, E. A. 共1986兲. “Low strain dynamic properties
content, compaction energy, and soil index properties 共i.e., per- of artificially cemented sand.” J. Geotech. Engrg., 112共11兲, 1001–
cent sand, fines, and plasticity index兲. Additional test soils are, 1015.

JOURNAL OF GEOTECHNICAL AND GEOENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING © ASCE / OCTOBER 2009 / 1401

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