Cyclic loading triaxial testing of crushed rubble and lava

Abstract

This paper describes a laboratory investigation into the suitability of crushed rubble as a substitute for conventional road base materials. The rubble investigated was a mixture of crushed concrete and crushed bricks, whilst lava from the Eifel was chosen as a reference material. Standard highway engineering tests (Proctor, CBR) and durability tests (Los Angeles Abrasion, Slake Durability and the standardized Dutch crushing test) were performed to provide reference date with every-day engineering practice. Cyclic loading triaxial tests were performed on both materials. The resilient moduli were determined at various levels of confining stress and the cyclic deviator stress. The susceptibility to plastic strain development (rutting) of both materials was determined in triaxial tests with up to 106 load applications. The degradation of the materials in the plastic strain tests was determined through sieve analyses prior to and after the tests.