Characterization of the effect of physical properties on the performance such as stiffness and drainage of unbound granular materials is necessary in order to incorporate them in pavement design. The stiffness, deformation and permeability behaviour of unbound granular materials are the essential design inputs for Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide as well as empirical design methods. The performance based specifications are aimed to design, and construct a durable and cost effective material throughout the design life of a pavement. However, the specification varies among jurisdiction depending on the historical or current practice, locally available materials, landform, climate and drainage. A literature review on the current unbound granular materials virgin and recycled concrete aggregate base construction specification has been carried out in this study. Resilient modulus, permanent deformation and permeability tests have been carried out on seven gradations of materials from locally available sources. Resilient modulus stiffness of unbound granular material at two different conditioning stress level have been compared in the study. The long term deformation behaviour has also been characterized from results of the permanent deformation test using shakedown approach, dissipated energy approach and a simplified approach. The results show improvement in resilient modulus and permanent deformation for the proposed specification compared to the currently used materials as a results of reduced fines content, increased crush count and inclusion of larger maximum aggregate size into the gradation. A significant effect of particle packing on permeability of granular materials have also been found, in addition to the effect of fines. / October 2016

Com o crescimento dos grandes centros urbanos e expansão da ação do homem sobre a natureza, muitos projetos de engenharia se tornam inviáveis devido a inexistência de solos que atendam as solicitações necessárias no local, elevados custos de transporte e excessivos danos ambientais. Uma das alternativas existentes é a melhoria das condições destes solos e entre as múltiplas técnicas para melhoramento encontram-se os solos artificialmente cimentados, os quais têm como uma de suas mais corriqueiras utilizações em campo a resistência a solicitações cíclicas, principalmente na construção de pavimentos, o reforço de áreas suscetíveis a sismos e a fundação de estruturas costeiras. Assim esta pesquisa estuda o comportamento cíclico de uma determinada areia artificialmente cimentada, aferindo sua resistência a compressão simples, módulo cisalhante, sucção e focando nos parâmetros módulo de resiliência e vida de fadiga e busca correlacioná-los com a razão porosidade/teor volumétrico de cimento. Para tanto, foi projetado e construído um equipamento para realização dos ensaios de fadiga e calibrado outro equipamento já existente para execução de ensaios de módulo de resiliência conforme a norma vigente. Em conjunto com os resultados dos ensaios, são apresentadas uma relação de previsão do módulo com base no modelo composto de estado de tensões e correlações satisfatórias dos parâmetros cíclicos obtidos com a razão porosidade/teor volumétrico de cimento, comprovando a possibilidade de seu uso na previsão do comportamento e dosagem deste solo-cimento. / With the growth of large urban centers and expansion of human activities, many engineering projects become infeasible due to the absence of soils that meet the necessary requests on site, high transportation costs and excessive environmental damage. One of the alternatives is to improve the conditions of these soils and, among multiple improvement techniques, the artificially cemented soil is highlighted. This practice has one of its most usual applications on the field to improve materials strength to cyclic loads, especially in pavement designs, reinforcement of areas susceptible to earthquakes and foundations of coastal structures. This research studies the cyclic behavior of a artificially cemented sand, checking its compressive strength, shear modulus, suction and focusing on the resilient modulus and fatigue life parameters. Additionally it seeks to correlate them with the porosity/volumetric cement content ratio. To this end it was designed and built a device for carrying out the fatigue tests and calibrated another existing equipment to run resilient modulus tests according to current standards. Along with the tests results, a modulus prediction relationship is shown based on the composite model of stress state and good correlations of cyclic parameters obtained with the porosity/volumetric content of cement ratio are observed proving the possibility of its use for predicting behavior and dosage of this soil-cement.

<p>There is consistent research evidence that shows improvement of the engineering properties of subgrade soils treated with lime or cement. However, limited information is available on the effect of climatic changes on the subgrade stiffness. The thesis studies the effects of changes in soil moisture content and temperature on the resilient modulus of treated and untreated subgrades in Indiana. Two types of soils were tested: A-6 and A-7-6, from two locations in Indiana: Hartford City and Bloomington, respectively. When existing standards ASTM D559/559-15 and ASTM D560/560-16 for wetting/drying (WD) and freezing/thawing (FT) processes, respectively, were followed, the treated and untreated samples failed through the process of preparation due to the stringent procedures in the standards. Appropriate test conditions were investigated, as part of the research, to develop new protocols more appropriate to the field conditions in Indiana. Two new test protocols were developed and successfully applied to the treated soils. A total of 26 resilient modulus, M_R, tests were conducted following the standard AASHTO T307-99. The M_R results showed that the repeated action of WD and FT cycles reduced the stiffness of the chemically-treated soils down to values similar to or lower than those of the untreated soils. However, when the amount of chemical was doubled, with respect to the optimum, the M_R of the treated soils improved over that of the untreated soils, even after the wetting-drying cycles.</p>

Resilient modulus is a property for bound and unbound pavement materials characterizing the elastic behavior of materials under dynamic repeated loading. Resilient modulus is an important design parameter for pavement structures because it represents the structural strength of pavement layers through which the thickness design is based on. In Turkey, the layer thickness design is performed using resilient modulus determined empirically from various published sources. Determining a layer modulus using empirical methods causes inaccurate design solutions, which directly affects the structural performance and the overall cost of pavement construction. In this study, the resilient moduli of bituminous mixtures are measured in the laboratory by the indirect tensile test procedure for eight asphalt concrete samples according to NCHRP and ASTM procedures. The measured moduli of samples based on the two procedures are compared with the predicted values calculated from various empirical methods using aggregate and binder properties. An evaluation of each estimation method is presented on the basis of its accuracy level. The results show that the Witczak predictive equation produces the closest estimation to the modulus of samples for both laboratory measurement methods.

Numerous research efforts have been devoted to characterizing the behavior of granular materials, which is one of the main concerns of pavement engineers. For better understanding of this behavior, laboratory tests where in-situ stress conditions and traffic loads are adequately simulated are needed. This study makes use of an expanded test protocol called a performance test that includes resilient modulus as well as permanent deformation testing. This test protocol determines three nonlinear resilient modulus parameters (k1, k2, k3) and two permanent deformation parameters (?,??). The resilient modulus test results are required inputs in the Level 1 analysis of the proposed American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Pavement Design Guide. In addition, both resilient modulus and permanent deformation test results provide material property inputs to pavement performance prediction models. This study also evaluated the within laboratory repeatability of the performance test and developed a within laboratory precision statement. Further, a statistical analysis was conducted on the test results to estimate the number of test specimens required for testing for specific reliability levels. Two test specimens are required for a reliability level of 15%. A within laboratory study was also conducted to investigate the influence of specimen size on test results. The specimen height was reduced from 12 in. (304 mm) to 8 in. (203 mm), and there was no difference in test results at a confidence level of 95%. The performance test was further used successfully in subsequent studies to evaluate the behavior of granular materials and the influence of various factors on their behavior. As fines content increased, the resilient modulus values decreased and permanent deformation increased. As the moisture content increased, the resilient modulus value decreased and the resistance to permanent deformation decreased. A simplified laboratory measurement tool that is repeatable, relatively cheap and easy to perform might prompt the use of laboratory measured values of resilient modulus in pavement design and facilitate correlation of these values to field measured values on a large scale. Use of measured data for the base properties rather than estimates would insure improved pavement designs and, in many cases, would save money in construction costs.

Unbound granular materials (UGMs) used in the base and sub-base layers of flexible pavements play a significant role in the overall performance of the structure. Proper understanding and characterization of the deformation behaviour of UGMs in pavement structures are, therefore, vital for the design and maintenance of flexible pavements. In this study, the resilient deformation (RD) and the permanent deformation (PD) behaviour of UGMs were investigated for the better understanding and improved modelling of these deformation characteristics. The study is based on a series of repeated-load triaxial (RLT) tests carried out on several UGMs commonly used in pavement structures. Here, the influences of stress level and moisture content - two of the most significant factors affecting the deformation behaviour of UGMs - were analysed. The effects of the grain size distribution and the degree of compaction were also considered. The study on the RD behaviour indicated that the resilient stiffness (MR)of UGMs increases with the increased bulk stress level, which can be satisfactorily described by the k-θ model. Moisture was found to negatively impact the MR as long as the deformation was mostly resilient with a negligible amount of accumulated PD. Analysis of the influence of moisture on the parameters k1 and k2 of the k-θ model showed that k1 decreases with increased moisture and k2 is relatively insensitive to moisture. Based on these observations, a simple model was developed for the impact of moisture on MR. The performance of this model was comparable to an existing moisture dependent MR model. In contrast, it was further observed that at the later stages of the RLT tests, after a relatively large number of load applications, the MR increased with increased moisture up to the optimum moisture content. This occurred when the RD was accompanied by a significant amount of PD. Further investigation suggested that moisture aided the post-compaction (PC) and possible particle rearrangement that resulted in the increased PD and increased MR. In this case k1 decreased, whereas k2 increased, with increased moisture. The existing MR-moisture model did not work for this behaviour. This suggests that the effect of PC on MRshould be considered in modelling. However, although not explored in this study, it may be possible to simulate this effect of increase in MR with increased moisture due to PC using the proposed model if k2 is expressed as a function of moisture. The PD characteristics of UGMs were investigated based on the multistage (MS) RLT test. In contrast with the single stage (SS) RLT test, the MS RLT test accounts for the effect of stress history and enables a comprehensive study of the material behaviour under cyclic stresses of various magnitudes. Since the existing PD models cannot be directly applied for the MS loading procedure, a general formulation based on the time hardening concept was derived that can be used to extend the models for the MS loading conditions. Based on this formulation, some of the current models were calibrated and their performance in predicting the PD behaviour in MS RLT tests was compared. The investigation regarding the impact of moisture on PD showed that moisture significantly increases the accumulation of PD. Generally, materials with finer grading showed more sensitivity to moisture with regards to both PD and RD. To characterize the impact of moisture, moisture sensitivity of different grain size distributions and the impact of the degree of compaction on PD with reduced effort, a simple model was proposed. Unlike some of the well-performing existing models, this model can be calibrated using a single MS RLT test without requiring any separate static failure triaxial tests. This model was validated using the MS RLT test data with satisfactory results. The sensitivity of the parameters of this model was studied with respect to moisture content, degree of compaction and grain size distribution. Some reasonable trends for the sensitivity of the parameters to these influential factors were obtained, which suggests that these may be further developed to incorporate into the model. / <p>QC 20150325</p>

abstract: This study presents the results of one of the first attempts to characterize the pore water pressure response of soils subjected to traffic loading under saturated and unsaturated conditions. It is widely known that pore water pressure develops within the soil pores as a response to external stimulus. Also, it has been recognized that the development of pores water pressure contributes to the degradation of the resilient modulus of unbound materials. In the last decades several efforts have been directed to model the effect of air and water pore pressures upon resilient modulus. However, none of them consider dynamic variations in pressures but rather are based on equilibrium values corresponding to initial conditions. The measurement of this response is challenging especially in soils under unsaturated conditions. Models are needed not only to overcome testing limitations but also to understand the dynamic behavior of internal pore pressures that under critical conditions may even lead to failure. A testing program was conducted to characterize the pore water pressure response of a low plasticity fine clayey sand subjected to dynamic loading. The bulk stress, initial matric suction and dwelling time parameters were controlled and their effects were analyzed. The results were used to attempt models capable of predicting the accumulated excess pore pressure at any given time during the traffic loading and unloading phases. Important findings regarding the influence of the controlled variables challenge common beliefs. The accumulated excess pore water pressure was found to be higher for unsaturated soil specimens than for saturated soil specimens. The maximum pore water pressure always increased when the high bulk stress level was applied. Higher dwelling time was found to decelerate the accumulation of pore water pressure. In addition, it was found that the higher the dwelling time, the lower the maximum pore water pressure. It was concluded that upon further research, the proposed models may become a powerful tool not only to overcome testing limitations but also to enhance current design practices and to prevent soil failure due to excessive development of pore water pressure. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Civil and Environmental Engineering 2011

Camadas granulares desempenham um importante papel no comportamento global de pavimentos, especialmente daqueles com revestimentos delgados ou sem revestimento. Para conhecer as características de resistência e deformabilidade de materiais componentes dessas camadas são realizados ensaios triaxiais. No caso de ensaios em materiais granulares, o corpo de prova deve ter diâmetro de pelo menos cinco vezes o tamanho máximo de partícula e altura igual a duas vezes o seu diâmetro. Como as especificações do DNIT permitem o emprego de agregados de até 5 cm em camadas de brita graduada ou solo-agregado, os corpos-de-prova devem ter diâmetro de 25 cm e altura de 50 cm. Equipamentos capazes de ensaiar corpos-deprova com estas dimensões são raros no mundo e inexistiam no Brasil até 2008. Com o intuito de superar esta carência e avançar no conhecimento do comportamento mecânico de agregados graúdos, a pesquisa relatada nesta tese teve como objetivos desenvolver um equipamento triaxial de grande porte capaz de aplicar carregamentos estáticos, monotônicos e cíclicos em corpos-de-prova de grandes dimensões (25 cm x 50 cm); bem como realizar e interpretar os primeiros ensaios. A concepção e a montagem do equipamento são descritas considerando as partes principais. Também é detalhada a instrumentação utilizada composta por: duas células de carga, três transdutores de deslocamento e dois transmissores de pressão. Para os primeiros ensaios foi escolhida uma brita graduada de basalto, anteriormente utilizada em pistas experimentais solicitadas por simulador de tráfego. Ensaios em corpos-de-prova de 10 cm de diâmetro e 20 cm de altura foram realizados para comparação com resultados de ensaios em corpos-de-prova maiores, realizados no novo equipamento. Os ensaios de módulo de resiliência foram conduzidos segundo o método de ensaio do DNIT, com algumas modificações para adequá-lo ao padrão internacional. Os ensaios triaxiais monotônicos e os cíclicos de deformações permanentes foram conduzidos tanto em multiestágios, quanto em estágio único de tensões. Os resultados obtidos foram interpretados segundo diversas teorias e modelos, obtendo-se parâmetros de resistência e de deformabilidade. Uma análise mecanística utilizando os parâmetros obtidos nos ensaios permitiu analisar o comportamento do material estudado como camada de pavimento. Conclui-se que o equipamento triaxial de grande porte atende as necessidades para as quais foi projetado, permitindo obter parâmetros para caracterização do comportamento de agregados graúdos e prever desempenho de pavimentos, quanto a deformações permanentes e ruptura por cisalhamento de camadas granulares. / Unbound aggregates layers play an important role in the performance of thinly surfaced or unsurfaced pavements. In order to assess the strength-strain characteristics of soils and aggregates used in those layers, triaxial tests must be carried out on cylindrical specimens with diameter not smaller than 5 times the particle maximum size and height twice the diameter. Since Brazil National Roads Department allows using 2” aggregates in granular bases, specimens for triaxial tests should be at least 25 cm in diameter and 50 cm in height. All over the world there are only a few equipments for testing such specimens; and up to 2008 none of them in Brazil. Aiming at overcoming this deficiency and enhance the knowledge on the mechanical behavior of coarse aggregates, the objectives of research reported in this thesis were to develop a triaxial equipment capable of applying static, monotonic and repeated loadings on large specimens (25 cm x 50 cm) and perform and analyze the first tests. The design and assemblage of the equipment are describe, detailing its main components and the instrumentation, that included two load cells, three displacement transducers and two pressure transmitters. The first tests were carried out on specimens made of dense crushed aggregates, formerly used in APT test sections. Tests were also carried out on specimens with 10.0 cm diameter and 20.0 cm height, in order to compare their results to those of tests carried out in larger specimens tested in the new triaxial equipment. Resilient modulus tests were carried out according to the Brazilian standard, but some modifications were introduced to follow international patterns. Triaxial monotonic and repeated loading permanent deformation tests were carried out both in multiple stages and unique stage of stresses. The results were interpreted were calculated taking into account several theories and models, strength and strain parameters being obtained. A mechanistic analysis using parameters obtained in tests allowed analyzing the behavior of the studied aggregates making part of pavement layers. It is concluded the new triaxial equipment for large specimens fulfills the requirements that motivated its design and construction, making possible to obtain parameters for characterizing the behavior of coarse aggregates and estimating pavements performance regarding permanent deformation and shear failure of granular layers.

Com o crescimento dos grandes centros urbanos e expansão da ação do homem sobre a natureza, muitos projetos de engenharia se tornam inviáveis devido a inexistência de solos que atendam as solicitações necessárias no local, elevados custos de transporte e excessivos danos ambientais. Uma das alternativas existentes é a melhoria das condições destes solos e entre as múltiplas técnicas para melhoramento encontram-se os solos artificialmente cimentados, os quais têm como uma de suas mais corriqueiras utilizações em campo a resistência a solicitações cíclicas, principalmente na construção de pavimentos, o reforço de áreas suscetíveis a sismos e a fundação de estruturas costeiras. Assim esta pesquisa estuda o comportamento cíclico de uma determinada areia artificialmente cimentada, aferindo sua resistência a compressão simples, módulo cisalhante, sucção e focando nos parâmetros módulo de resiliência e vida de fadiga e busca correlacioná-los com a razão porosidade/teor volumétrico de cimento. Para tanto, foi projetado e construído um equipamento para realização dos ensaios de fadiga e calibrado outro equipamento já existente para execução de ensaios de módulo de resiliência conforme a norma vigente. Em conjunto com os resultados dos ensaios, são apresentadas uma relação de previsão do módulo com base no modelo composto de estado de tensões e correlações satisfatórias dos parâmetros cíclicos obtidos com a razão porosidade/teor volumétrico de cimento, comprovando a possibilidade de seu uso na previsão do comportamento e dosagem deste solo-cimento. / With the growth of large urban centers and expansion of human activities, many engineering projects become infeasible due to the absence of soils that meet the necessary requests on site, high transportation costs and excessive environmental damage. One of the alternatives is to improve the conditions of these soils and, among multiple improvement techniques, the artificially cemented soil is highlighted. This practice has one of its most usual applications on the field to improve materials strength to cyclic loads, especially in pavement designs, reinforcement of areas susceptible to earthquakes and foundations of coastal structures. This research studies the cyclic behavior of a artificially cemented sand, checking its compressive strength, shear modulus, suction and focusing on the resilient modulus and fatigue life parameters. Additionally it seeks to correlate them with the porosity/volumetric cement content ratio. To this end it was designed and built a device for carrying out the fatigue tests and calibrated another existing equipment to run resilient modulus tests according to current standards. Along with the tests results, a modulus prediction relationship is shown based on the composite model of stress state and good correlations of cyclic parameters obtained with the porosity/volumetric content of cement ratio are observed proving the possibility of its use for predicting behavior and dosage of this soil-cement.

Os parâmetros obtidos nos resultados de ensaios triaxiais de módulo de resiliência em solos têm sido cada vez mais utilizados no dimensionamento de pavimentos. Estes parâmetros são fundamentais em análises estruturais e mecanísticas de pavimentos. Pelas normas atuais o ensaio pode ser realizado em diversos tamanhos de corpo-de-prova contanto que respeite a relação entre diâmetro por altura 1:2 e a relação tamanho máximo de partícula por diâmetro do corpo-de-prova 1:5. O objetivo deste trabalho é compreender como variam os resultados de módulo de resiliência quando os ensaios são realizados em diferentes tamanhos de corpode- prova. Para realizar esta pesquisa foram utilizados quatro solos distintos ensaiados em corpos-de-prova de 7,5 x 15 cm, 10 x 20 cm e 15 x 30 cm. Os solos escolhidos foram uma areia, um solo arenoso fino laterítico, um solo argiloso e um solo residual de granito (saibro). Todos os quatro solos são utilizados como materiais para pavimentação e são provenientes do estado do Rio Grande do Sul. Os materiais foram caracterizados por ensaios de granulometria, peso específico real dos grãos e limites de liquidez e plasticidade. Foram realizados ensaios de compactação nas energias normal e intermediária obtendo-se assim os parâmetros de compactação para os ensaios triaxiais. Em dois dos quatro solos da pesquisa ainda se realizou ensaios de classificação MCT. Os ensaios triaxiais foram realizados com os quatro solos, em três tamanhos e com duas energias de compactação, totalizando 24 ensaios. Após revisão bibliográfica sobre modelos matemáticos de regressão, decidiu-se interpretar os resultados pelos modelos Tensão Confinante, Tensão Desvio, Modelo Teta e Modelo Composto. Dentre os quatro modelos utilizados, o Modelo Composto obteve os melhores resultados de ajuste. Realizaram-se análises dos parâmetros obtidos nos modelos pela variação do tamanho de corpo-de-prova, onde se observou um pequeno aumento dos valores de MR quando ensaiados em corpos-de-prova maiores. Realizou-se ainda uma comparação estatística entre os resultados dos ensaios triaxiais em que a principal conclusão foi de que a areia, dentre os quatro solos estudados, é considerada o único material que não varia seus módulos conforme o ensaio é realizado em diferentes tamanhos de corpo-de-prova. / The results of resilient modulus test of soils have been increasingly used in pavement design, once they are fundamental in structural and mechanistic analysis of pavements. By the current standards/protocols, the test may be performed in various sizes of test specimens as long as it respects the relationship between diameter and height ratio 1:2 and the relationship between maximum particle size and diameter of the test specimen 1:5. The aim of this study is to understand how the results of resilient modulus vary when the tests are conducted in different sizes of test specimen. In order to conduct this research, four different types of soil were used and tested in specimens of 7.5 x 15 cm, 10 x 20 cm and 15 x 30 cm. The soils chosen were sand, fine sandy lateritic soil, clayey soil and residual soil of granite (gravel). All the four soils are used for pavement materials and are original from the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The tests carried out for characterization of the materials include: grain size distribution, physical characterization and Atterberg limits. Proctor compaction test were performed in two different energies, thus obtaining the compression parameters for the compaction of the specimen. Additionally, in two of the four soils of the research, experiments of MCT classification were carried out. The resilient modulus tests were performed with the four soils in three sizes and in two compaction energies, totalizing 24 experiments. After reviewing the literature on regression mathematical models, it was decided to interpret the results from models of Confining Pressure, Deviation Stress, Teta Model and Composted Model. Among the four models used, the Composted Model showed the best fitting results. Analysis were performed considering coefficients obtained in the models versus the size of the specimen. A small increase in resilient modulus values was noticed for experiments performed with larger samples. A statistical comparison between the results of the resilient modulus tests was performed, and the main conclusion was that the sand is considered the only material among the four soils that do not vary its modules as the test is performed on different sizes of specimen.