Abstract
Understanding the long-term behaviour of cement-treated base materials is a key factor to improve its design and obtain environmentally friendly pavement base materials. Their characterization requires manufacturing prismatic specimens. However, various authors highlight the absence of standardized test methods for fabricating beams in the field and laboratory, which is not an easy task because it depends on the qualification and experience of the testing team. The aim of this paper is to present a new device and procedure for compacting prismatic specimens of cement-treated base materials. In this research, it was used for compacting soil-cement to simulate its performance as a road base material. This device employs elements that are generally available in a concrete laboratory test, such as a vibrating table or prismatic moulds. Once the procedure was established, and in order to verify its suitability, flexural and compressive strength tests were carried out. Results showed that the values obtained were consistent with this material and, despite the heterogeneity of the material, specimens from the same batch provided similar results and, hence, validated the compaction process. This new compacting procedure can improve understanding of the long-term performance of cement-treated materials from flexural and fatigue tests.
Highlights
IntroductionThe first reference about adding cement to soil for improving its properties dates from 1915 in Sarasota, Florida, where a mixture of shells, sand and Portland cement was compacted, resulting in a soil stabilization for roads [16]
With the aim of avoiding the decomposition of the sample, 0.04 MPa/s is adopted, which guarantees that the load is applied in the slowest way and the final part of the test is programmed when a reduction of the strength of 5% is detected
In order to verify the suitability of the procedure, 10 batches were carried out and, from each one, an “odd” and an “even” sample were manufactured
Summary
The first reference about adding cement to soil for improving its properties dates from 1915 in Sarasota, Florida, where a mixture of shells, sand and Portland cement was compacted, resulting in a soil stabilization for roads [16]. It was not until after World War II that this technique was used in France, Germany, Spain, Australia and South Africa for base and sub-base roads [16].
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