Mechanistic Corrections for Determining the Resilient Modulus of Base Course Materials Based on Elastic Wave Measurements

Abstract

The mechanical performance of pavement systems depends on the stiffness of subsurface soil and aggregate materials. The moduli of base course, subbase, and subgrade soils included in pavement systems need to be characterized for their use in the new empirical-mechanistic design procedure (NCHRP 1-37A). Typically, the resilient modulus test is used in the design of base and subbase layers under repetitive loads. Unfortunately, resilient modulus tests are expensive and cannot be applied to materials that contain particles larger than 25 mm (for 125-mm diameter specimens) without scalping the large grains. This paper examines a new methodology for estimating resilient modulus based on the propagation of elastic waves. The method is based on using a mechanistic approach that relates the