CBR Improvement of Clayey Soil with Geo-grid
The quality and life of pavement is greatly affected by the type of sub-grade, sub base and base course materials. The most important of these are the type and quality of sub-grade soil. But in India most of the flexible pavements are need to be constructed over weak and problematic sub-grade. The California bearing ratio (CBR) of these sub-grade have very low, it needs to more thickness of pavement. Decrease in the availability of suitable sub base and base materials for pavement construction have leads to a search for economic method of converting locally available problematic soil to suitable construction materials. The present research have to study the effect of geo-grid reinforcement on maximum dry density (MDD), Optimum Moisture Content (OMC), California Bearing Ratio (CBR) and E-Value of sub-grade soil. The clayey type of soil and one type of geo--grid were selected for this study. From the study it is clear that there is considerable improvement in California Bearing Ratio (CBR) of sub-grade due to geo-grid reinforcement. In case of without reinforcement (Geo-grid) the soaked CBR value was 2.9% and when geo-grid was placed at 0.2H from the top of the specimen the CBR increases to 9.4%.
Performance of Geosynthetic-Reinforced Asphalt Pavements
This paper describes the performance of geosynthetic-reinforced asphalt pavement under monotonic, cyclic, and dynamic loading conditions. The study differed from current practice where geosynthetics are typically used as separators or to improve the bearing capacity of the subgrade. A geogrid layer was installed at the bottom of the asphalt concrete layer, along the asphalt-subgrade interface, to function as tensile reinforcement. The load was applied to the surface of the asphalt concrete layer using a rigid rectangular footing under plane strain conditions. The strains that developed along the geogrid over time and at different load levels were monitored. Two different types of geogrid reinforcements were used, and their restraining effects on the layered system were compared. The study showed that geosynthetic reinforcement increased the stiffness and bearing capacity of the asphalt concrete pavement. Under dynamic loading, the life of the asphalt concrete layer was prolonged in the presence of geosynthetic reinforcement. The stiffness of the geogrid and its interlocking with the asphalt concrete contributed to the restraining effect.
Tensile Properties of Geogrids under Cyclic Loadings
The tensile behavior of three commonly used polymeric geogrids (polypropylene, polyester, and high-density polyethylene) under cyclic loading was investigated. The tests were strain controlled and were conducted for 100 cycles at different load ratios. The stiffness and damping ratio of geogrids at all load cycles were compared with the primary loading curve. The stiffness increased while the damping ratio decreased with more loading cycles at any load ratio. A higher load ratio decreased the stiffness ratio and increased the damping ratio. The strengths of prestressed and virgin specimens were also compared. Negligible strength reduction resulted from short-term cyclic loading. The strength obtained from static tests appears reasonable when used for design considering short-term cyclic loading. An empirical relationship is proposed to determine the strain accumulated from cyclic loading under different load ratios.