Gypsum sand resilient modulus during cyclic soaking and drying

Abstract

A laboratory investigation and analysis on the resilient modulus of gypsum-rich roadbed sand with a gypsum content of 38.8%, subjected to cyclic soaking and drying with a cycle length of 14 days, is presented and discussed. Eleven pairs of California bearing ratio (CBR) soil specimens were prepared for determining the resilient modulus using the wave propagation technique. After the application of this technique, the CBR load–penetration test was performed on each specimen to make use of the corresponding curve for determining the resilient modulus too. The wave propagation resilient modulus results are generally in good agreement with those based on CBR full load–penetration curve. The paper reveals that the cyclic soaking and drying process converges to an equilibrium state after the fifth cycle resulting in a resilient modulus which is much less than that for the common four days of soaking or that obtained from published correlation studies.

Keywords:

• cyclic soaking and drying
• gypsiferous soils
• pavement design
• resilient modulus
• salt-bearing soils

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

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