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Inadequate financial allocation for road maintenance is a threat to the impaired rural highways in Atlantic Canada. The conventional means of pavement rehabilitation has been to place a hot mix asphalt concrete overlay on the existing worn out pavement which is only a short term adjustment. The purpose is to provide a smooth wearing surface at a low cost. This traditional way of pavement repair does not fix the damage embedded within the pavement structure. After a certain extent of time the cracks in the original pavement start to reflect to the smooth new wearing surface, causing deterioration on the overlay. The advanced approach which is becoming more popular is the application of Full Depth Reclamation (FDR). This technique helps to repair the extensively defective roads by pulverizing the flexible pavement along with a fraction of the underlying damaged base layer. Thus a damage free base layer can be obtained by stabilizing and recompacting the pulverized materials. FDR is a sustainable and an environmentally beneficial repair method as it re-uses the in-situ materials. FDR process has been used around the world for over 25 years yet confronts some difficulties regarding the fluctuation in the strength of materials in various projects. It is inferred that some of these difficulties are due to the variability and poor quality in the restored materials. The variability in the recycled base layer is a result of currently utilizing a retroactive depth control method to attain a specific blend of asphalt concrete to granular base for the pulverized materials. Two FDR projects applying two different pulverization control methods (conventional retroactive and GPR depth control methods) were analyzed to investigate the improvements in consistency of the restored materials by using Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR). A wide range of asphalt concrete/base layer blend ratio was detected in retroactive control section, while consistent blend ratio was maintained in GPR survey by mapping the variability in the depth of pavement and sub-dividing the test sections accordingly. A GPR controlled constant blend ratio during pulverization displayed improvements in consistency of materials, physical and mechanical properties and performance as anticipated. The materials obtained by using the conventional retroactive depth control method exhibited higher variability in grain size distribution, optimum moisture content, optimum density, California Bearing Ratio, resilient modulus and shear strength. All materials from both projects exhibited excessive air voids and inadequate fines content as the as-obtained particles acted as conglomerated particles and enough fines were not generated after the pulverization. It is recommended that efficient quality control, precise specifications and appropriate pulverization methods will provide more reliable and impressive FDR pavements. / This thesis contains research on unstabilized full depth reclaimed aggregates properties

Esta tesis tiene como objetivo evaluar un método de reforzamiento propuesto en base a la incorporación de fibras de polipropileno con la finalidad de incrementar la resistencia y mejorar las características mecánicas del suelo arcilloso de Palian – Huancayo. La arcilla es un suelo cohesivo constituido por partículas finas, estas características determinan la capacidad de deformación y compresión, además poseen baja resistencia al corte y a cargas. Debido a ello se busca reforzar y mejorar el comportamiento mecánico de la arcilla mediante métodos físicos y químicos. Esta investigación propone la adición fibras de polipropileno como método de reforzamiento para lo cual se analizó el suelo remoldeado con diferentes porcentajes de fibras adicionadas 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 y una longitud de fibra de 10 milímetros. Se realizaron ensayos de caracterización física para identificar el suelo natural remoldeado: granulometría por sedimentación, límites de consistencia y gravedad específica de los sólidos. Se sometió el suelo natural remoldeado y las mezclas con diferentes porcentajes de fibras a los siguientes ensayos de caracterización mecánica para determinar las variaciones en el comportamiento: ensayo de compactación estándar, ensayo de corte directo y ensayo de compresión simple. Los valores obtenidos mediante los ensayos realizados demostraron la mejora de las características mecánicas del suelo siendo la mezcla de 0.4% de fibras de polipropileno la que brinda un mejor resultado en comparación con las mezclas de menor proporción. / This thesis aims to evaluate a reinforcement method based on the incorporation of polypropylene fibers to increase the strength and improve the mechanical characteristics of Palian- Huancayo’s clay soil. Clay is a cohesive soil consisting of fine particles, these characteristics determine the capacity of deformation and compression, as well as low resistance to cutting and loads. Therefore, it seeks to strengthen and improve the mechanical behavior of clay through physical and chemical methods. This research proposes the addition of polypropylene fibers as reinforcement method for which the soil under study was analyzed with different percentages of fibers added 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and a fiber length of 10 millimeters. Physical characterization tests were carried out to identify the natural soil: granulometry by sedimentation, limits of consistency and specific gravity of the solids. The natural soil and the mixtures with different percentages of fibers were subjected to the following mechanical characterization tests to determine the variations in behavior: Standard compaction test, unconfined compression test, and shear direct test. The values obtained through the tests demonstrated the improvement of the mechanical characteristics of the soil being the mixture of 0.4% of polypropylene fibers the one that provides a better result compared to the mixtures of a lower proportion. / Tesis

Résumé : Ces travaux de thèse s'intéressent à l'étude du comportement d'une discontinuité dans un géomatériau sous sollicitations chemo-mécaniques à l'échelle du laboratoire. Des essais de traction-compression cyclique étudient la refermeture d'une fissure. Ils indiquent que les déformations inélastiques seraient gouvernées en partie par les frottements générés lors du ré-emboîtement des lèvres de la discontinuité, non correspondantes du fait des contraintes internes. Des joints rocheux altérés chimiquement sous sollicitation tangentielle sont étudiés au travers d'essais de cisaillement direct : le comportement des joints dégradés est profondément modifié du fait de la diminution des propriétés mécaniques du matériau de part et d'autre de la discontinuité et de l'accentuation de la non-correspondance des profils rugueux. Le comportement d'une discontinuité est modélisée par le couplage d'un modèle élasto-plastique endommageable continu avec une résolution discrète du problème de contact/frottement (code calcul aux éléments finis Cast3M). Les résultats numériques confirment les phénomènes constatés expérimentalement.//Abstract: To probate the technology of CO[indice inférieur 2] geological storage, the integrity of the site must be assure over time. This industruial problematic involves the study of the mechanical properties alteration of geomaterials in the presence of CO[indice inférieur 2]. The scenario at the origin of this thesis illustrates the possibility of a CO[indice inférieur 2] leakage on a fault located in the caprock. This geological problem is complicated by the many parameters to consider: in situ temperature and pressure, scale effect, heterogeneities of the geomaterial, geofluide composition, chemical reactions ... These works focus on the behavior of a discontinuity in a geomaterial solicited chemomechanically at the laboratory scale. They were realised in cotutelle between SIAME laboratory at the University of Pau and Pays de l'Adour (France) and the laboratory of rock mechanics and engineering geology from the University of Sherbrooke (Quebec, Canada). The first part of the experimental program was defined to characterize the reclosing of a crack under cyclic uniaxial stress. The second experimental campaign has studied the shear behavior of a rock joint chemically degraded. The data obtained were used to model the behavior of a discontinuity by the finite element method. The mechanical behavior of a crack under normal stress is assessed with cyclic tension-compression tests. Stress curve showed hysteresis during opening and closing cycles of a discontinuity in concrete, it indicated inelastic deformations The analysis of displacement field by image correlation indicated that theses deformations were partially governed by the friction generated during the closing of the discontinuity lips. Frictional phenomena are due to asperities mismatching induced by the internal stresses in the concrete. The shear behavior of a rock joint chemically damaged was studied through direct shear tests. Rough surfaces were immersed in acid solution during 6 hours at constant pH. Digitalization of these surfaces befor and after immesion, with a lase profilometer, indicates little modifications of the geometry induced by dissolution of material. Results of tests pointed out significant modifications for altered joints illustred by a of the peak shear strength and an increased of contractancy. They are induced by: 1) the mismatch enhancement of the rough profiles of the discontinuity and, 2) the degradation of the mechanical properties of the material on both sides of the discontinuity due to the chemical attack. Numerical contribution of the thesis lies in modeling the behavior of a discontinuity by the coupling of an continuous elastic-plastic damaged model with a discrete resolution of the contact/friction problem. The model is developed with the finite element code Cast3M. Geometries lips discontinuities are modeled directly from the roughness profiles from experimental scans. The numerical results correctly represent the friction phenomena observed experimentally. Finally, a model of the shear test altered joints is performed by coupling the mechanical model with chemical damage model.

Ces travaux de thèse s'intéressent à l'étude du comportement d'une discontinuité dans un géomatériau sous sollicitations chemo-mécaniques à l'échelle du laboratoire. Des essais de traction-compression cyclique étudient la refermeture d'une fissure. Ils indiquent que les déformations inélastiques seraient gouvernées en partie par les frottements générés lors du ré-emboîtement des lèvres de la discontinuité, non correspondantes du fait des contraintes internes. Des joints rocheux altérés chimiquement sous sollicitation tangentielle sont étudiés au travers d'essais de cisaillement direct : le comportement des joints dégradés est profondément modifié du fait de la diminution des propriétés mécaniques du matériau de part et d'autre de la discontinuité et de l'accentuation de la non-correspondance des profils rugueux. Le comportement d'une discontinuité est modélisée par le couplage d'un modèle élasto-plastique endommageable continu avec une résolution discrète du problème de contact/frottement (code calcul aux éléments finis Cast3M). Les résultats numériques confirment les phénomènes constatés expérimentalement. / This PhD dissertation presents a study aiming at a better understanding of cracks behavior in a geomaterial. The study focuses on the behavior of discontinuities under chemo-mechanical solicitations at the laboratory scale. The mechanical behavior under normal stress is assessed with cyclic tension-compression tests. Experimental data indicate that the inelastic deformations could be partially governed by the friction generated during the closing of the discontinuity lips, and the asperities mismatch is related to the internal stresses. The shear behavior of a rock joint chemically degraded was studied through direct shear tests. Results pointed out significant modifications for altered joints induced by: 1) the mismatch enhancement of the rough profiles of the discontinuity and, 2) the degradation of the mechanical properties of the material on both sides of the discontinuity due to the chemical attack. These experimental results have been used as input data to model the behavior of a discontinuity by the coupling of a continuous elastic-plastic damaged model with a discrete solving of the contact/friction problem. The simulations performed under Cast3M correctly represent the phenomena observed during the experimental testing program.

R??sum?? : Ces travaux de th??se s'int??ressent ?? l'??tude du comportement d'une discontinuit?? dans un g??omat??riau sous sollicitations chemo-m??caniques ?? l'??chelle du laboratoire. Des essais de traction-compression cyclique ??tudient la refermeture d'une fissure. Ils indiquent que les d??formations in??lastiques seraient gouvern??es en partie par les frottements g??n??r??s lors du r??-embo??tement des l??vres de la discontinuit??, non correspondantes du fait des contraintes internes. Des joints rocheux alt??r??s chimiquement sous sollicitation tangentielle sont ??tudi??s au travers d'essais de cisaillement direct : le comportement des joints d??grad??s est profond??ment modifi?? du fait de la diminution des propri??t??s m??caniques du mat??riau de part et d'autre de la discontinuit?? et de l'accentuation de la non-correspondance des profils rugueux. Le comportement d'une discontinuit?? est mod??lis??e par le couplage d'un mod??le ??lasto-plastique endommageable continu avec une r??solution discr??te du probl??me de contact/frottement (code calcul aux ??l??ments finis Cast3M). Les r??sultats num??riques confirment les ph??nom??nes constat??s exp??rimentalement.//Abstract: To probate the technology of CO[indice inf??rieur 2] geological storage, the integrity of the site must be assure over time. This industruial problematic involves the study of the mechanical properties alteration of geomaterials in the presence of CO[indice inf??rieur 2]. The scenario at the origin of this thesis illustrates the possibility of a CO[indice inf??rieur 2] leakage on a fault located in the caprock. This geological problem is complicated by the many parameters to consider: in situ temperature and pressure, scale effect, heterogeneities of the geomaterial, geofluide composition, chemical reactions ... These works focus on the behavior of a discontinuity in a geomaterial solicited chemomechanically at the laboratory scale. They were realised in cotutelle between SIAME laboratory at the University of Pau and Pays de l'Adour (France) and the laboratory of rock mechanics and engineering geology from the University of Sherbrooke (Quebec, Canada). The first part of the experimental program was defined to characterize the reclosing of a crack under cyclic uniaxial stress. The second experimental campaign has studied the shear behavior of a rock joint chemically degraded. The data obtained were used to model the behavior of a discontinuity by the finite element method. The mechanical behavior of a crack under normal stress is assessed with cyclic tension-compression tests. Stress curve showed hysteresis during opening and closing cycles of a discontinuity in concrete, it indicated inelastic deformations The analysis of displacement field by image correlation indicated that theses deformations were partially governed by the friction generated during the closing of the discontinuity lips. Frictional phenomena are due to asperities mismatching induced by the internal stresses in the concrete. The shear behavior of a rock joint chemically damaged was studied through direct shear tests. Rough surfaces were immersed in acid solution during 6 hours at constant pH. Digitalization of these surfaces befor and after immesion, with a lase profilometer, indicates little modifications of the geometry induced by dissolution of material. Results of tests pointed out significant modifications for altered joints illustred by a of the peak shear strength and an increased of contractancy. They are induced by: 1) the mismatch enhancement of the rough profiles of the discontinuity and, 2) the degradation of the mechanical properties of the material on both sides of the discontinuity due to the chemical attack. Numerical contribution of the thesis lies in modeling the behavior of a discontinuity by the coupling of an continuous elastic-plastic damaged model with a discrete resolution of the contact/friction problem. The model is developed with the finite element code Cast3M. Geometries lips discontinuities are modeled directly from the roughness profiles from experimental scans. The numerical results correctly represent the friction phenomena observed experimentally. Finally, a model of the shear test altered joints is performed by coupling the mechanical model with chemical damage model.