Study on the subgrade reaction modulus and strain modulus

Two modulus, strain modulus $(E_v)$ and subgrade reaction modulus $(K_{30})$ are being used as a standard for bearing stiffness in Korea Railroad design. The first is used in Europe and the other is used in Japan. The methodologies to obtain the two modulus are similar in using plate. But testing methods are different in loading to plate. Therefore, according to soil strain range, there should be large gap in not only computations of deformation modulus but also the necessary time to test. At first, this paper focuses on the two kinds of test methods to evaluate bearing stiffness. Secondly, based on elastic theory, the theory to obtain the two coefficients are studied thoroughly. Finally, the correlations between the two coefficients were analyzed and evaluated based on the field test results more than 38 places. The matching values for subgrade and ground between $K_{30}$ and $E_{v2}$ are proposed with the consideration of the proposed strain reduction factor (1.5 for subgrade and 3 for ground) and safety factor, respectively.

지반반력계수와 변형률계수에 대한 고찰