Mathematical modelling of resilient modulus response of fibre reinforced clay subgrade for pavement design

Abstract

Cohesive soils forming the subgrade layer of flexible pavements undergo excessive rutting and deformation under cyclic traffic loading and therefore, polyester fibre reinforcement has been proposed in this study for increasing the strength and stiffness of the soil. Resilient modulus is a stress dependent parameter used to characterize the behaviour of pavement layers under repeated traffic loading. The resilient modulus of raw and reinforced clay was determined in laboratory under un-soaked and soaked conditions, using advanced cyclic triaxial test under pre-defined stresses that are seldom the true representative of confining stress, cyclic deviator stress and bulk stress acting in a pavement structure. Therefore, mathematical modelling of resilient response of raw and fibre reinforced soil samples was done for three models proposed in the literature and the values of coefficient of regression (R2) were determined. Fibre reinforcement resulted in significant gain in strength and stiffness of the soil. The effect of different regression coefficients was studied and the best model for estimation of resilient modulus was suggested.

Subject Classification:

• 68U35

Keywords:

• Mathematical Modeling
• Regression Analysis
• Resilient Modulus
• Fibre-Reinforcement