Influence of Fine Content and Water Content on the Permanent Mechanical Behavior of a Granular Material Used in Low Traffic Pavements

Abstract

Granular materials are usually used in low traffic pavement structures as base layer or sub-base layer. The influence of the fine content on mechanical behavior is significant as well as the water content. In this study, based on the test results, a proposed empirical-analytical model was used to determine the permanent axial deformations of Missillac sand in Repeated Load Triaxial Tests (RLTTs). The model was also used to simulate the other experimental results existing in the literature. Globally, the results show a good capacity of model to estimate the permanent deformation behavior of granular materials.

Experimental characterization of unbound granular materials subjected to high harmonic loads

“…Several researches have shown that besides the effect of water content on the mechanical behaviours of the unsaturated granular materials, it is necessary to take into account the effect of suction (Yang et al 2008, Cary & Zapata, 2011, Nowamooz et al 2011, Nowamooz et al 2013, Salour et al 2014, Han et al 2015and Jing et al 2016, 2017 as well as hydraulic hysteresis (Miller et al 2008, Yang et al 2012and Ho et al 2014). Different experimental researches showed that the variation of fine content (particles passing the sieve 75 µm or sieve No.200 based on American classification) has also an important effect as well as water content on mechanical behaviours of granular materials as reported by Babić et al 2000, Duong et al 2013and Jing et al 2016, 2017 However, the relationship between resilient strain behaviours and unsaturated state with different fine contents has been rarely studied.…”