Local stiffness characteristic of geogrid-stabilized aggregate in relation to accumulated permanent deformation behavior

Abstract

Accumulated permanent deformation is the primary source of damage in a pavement unbound aggregate base layer. Mechanical stabilization with the help of a geogrid installed in unbound aggregate base provides lateral restraint to the flexible pavement, however, the local stiffness characteristic of geogrid-stabilized aggregate in relation to permanent deformation behavior is not clearly known. This study presents variations in shear modulus properties of geogrid-stabilized and unstabilized aggregate specimens in relation to permanent deformation accumulation. To characterize the local stiffnesses near and far away from geogrid, two pairs of bender elements were inserted in triaxial specimens as shear wave transducers. With the number of load cycles, the variations in the shear wave velocities at two different specimen heights were monitored. The test results show that, after the specimen preparation, the shear modulus near the geogrid was greater than that far away from the geogrid. Further, the shear modulus estimated at both levels of unstabilized specimen was similar to that estimated far away from geogrid in the mechanically stabilized specimen. This study demonstrates that the local stiffness of aggregate can be monitored by using the bender elements in relation to trends in permanent deformation behavior, and suggests the bender element systems can be effectively used to validate the benefits of geogrid stabilization by quantifying local stiffnesses at various levels of accumulated permanent deformation.