Journal of Earth Sciences and Geotechnical Engineering

Behavior of Reinforced Sub-base Layer on Dried Expansive Soil under Cyclic Loading

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  • Abstract

    Reinforced pavement layers have been gaining popularity in the field of civil engineering due to their highly versatile and flexible nature. With the advent of geosynthetics in civil engineering, reinforced earth technique has taken a new turn in its era. The practice of reinforced earth technique became easy and simple with geosynthetics. This research required providing the materials and manufacturing of the loading machine (loading test apparatus). Materials include soil (bentonite), granular subbase, sand, and geogrid. The testing program consists of preparing of nine models that represent layers beneath flexible pavement layers (subgrade and subbase layers), the model dimensions are 800x800x800 mm, subgrade layer is 400 mm thick and subbase layer 300 mm thick. The model tests include using geogrid reinforcement at the interface of the subgrade and subbase layer and in the centre of subbase layer. The tests were conducted under cyclic load, in dry state. It was concluded that the load carrying capacity of the pavement system significantly increases for geogrid reinforced subbase stretch compared to unreinforced subbase layer on expansive subgrade soil. This is reflected in the values of failure load which is greater in reinforced subbase layer model than in unreinforced model. There is a reduction in displacement for this model by about 4.7-7.7% compared with unreinforced model while the third model showed a reduction in displacement of about 4 – 6.1% only.

    Keywords: Granular subbase; geogrid reinforcement; dry soil; cyclic load; settlement.