Analysis of flexible pavement reinforced with geogrid and containing recycled materials.

Abstract

Utilization of aggregates as base or sub-base materials in the construction and maintenance of roadways pavement requires an enormous amount of raw aggregates. This paper aimed to investigate and numerically evaluate the behavior of recycled construction waste reinforced with geogrid when used as an alternative construction material in the base and sub-base layer of roads to apply sustainable development through preserving raw aggregate and resources for future generations. Finite element software Plaxis 2D ( 8.2 ) was used to assess the efficiency of Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement ( RAP ), Fly Ash ( FA ), and Reclaimed Concrete Material ( RCM ) against raw aggregates. Thirteen mixtures were employed in the base layer as an alternative to raw aggregates and three locations for the geogrid layer were also investigated. The study revealed that the reinforced recycled materials led to better deformation results when compared to raw aggregates. The best alternative mixture was 50% RAP + 50% raw aggregate which reduced deformation by 30%. The study concluded that the use of geogrid mesh reduced deformations and this reduction was dependent on the location of the mesh within the layers; the best position was in the middle of the base layer.