Mechanical Fatigue of a Stabilized/Treated Soil Tested with Uniaxial and Biaxial Flexural Tests

Abstract

During Civil Engineering works, it is a common practice to upgrade mechanical performances of in situ soils by adding few percent of hydraulic binders such as lime and/or cement. But the specificity of stress state in railways structures (biaxial tension) and the lack of knowledge about the fatigue mechanical performances of treated/stabilized natural soils under this stress state have led to the non-use of treated soils in HSR layers. To enable the use of treated soils in railways infrastructures a specific test was developed to induce biaxial tension. This biaxial test, dedicated to railways structures and a uniaxial test from pavement design are applied to a treated soil. Results are compared; it appears that the treated soil has better performances under biaxial tension.