Recommended Citation
Sandoval, E., Ardila Quiroga, A., Bobet, A., & Nantung, T. (2019). Subgrade stabilization alternatives (Joint Transportation Research Program Publication No. FHWA/IN/JTRP-2019/30). West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University. https://doi.org/10.5703/1288284317110
DOI
10.5703/1288284317110
Abstract
Recent research has shown that the subgrade soil type and its engineering properties govern the performance of the pavement, especially for clayey soils. However, current application of the Pavement_ME in Indiana does not fully account for the changes of type of soil and stiffness that may arise with treatment. This research addresses this issue by exploring engineering properties, namely fines content, plasticity index, unconfined compression strength and resilient modulus of subgrade stabilization alternatives. The effects of changes in moisture content and temperature on the stiffness of treated subgrades are also studied. Three A-7-6 soils and one A-6 soil mixed with lime kiln dust (LKD) and/or Portland cement (PC); and one A-7-6 soil mixed with quick lime (QL) are investigated. An increase in the soils grain size and a decrease in the plasticity is observed with all chemical treatments; however, the change in soil type is only evident when the optimum amount of treatment is doubled. An increase in the soil’s stiffness is always seen for treated soils, in some cases by a factor of two. Test conditions are investigated to develop new appropriate protocols that represent field conditions for changes in moisture and temperature. The MR results show that the action of wetting-drying and freezing-thawing cycles reduces the stiffness of the treated soils, at optimum treatment, down to values similar to, or lower than, those of the untreated soils. When the amount of chemical is doubled, the treated soils’ MR improves over that of the untreated soils, even after the wetting-drying cycles.
Report Number
FHWA/IN/JTRP-2019/30
Keywords
resilient modulus, subgrade, freezing-thawing, wetting-drying, clayey soils, chemical treatment, overdosing, pavement
SPR Number
4107
Performing Organization
Joint Transportation Research Program
Sponsoring Organization
Indiana Department of Transportation
Publisher Place
West Lafayette, Indiana
Date of this Version
2019