Effect of granite gravel content on improved granular mixtures as railway subgrade fillings

The improved granular mixtures are widely used as the fillings of railway 8ubgrade, and in order to investigate the effect of coarse grain content on granular mixtures, a series of field tests were conducted. The experimental results indicate that the permeability coefficient increases significantly with the increment of granite gravel content, especially in the range of 60%-70%. Thcrc exists a coarse grain content limit defined as 53%-58.5% to reform the permeable granular skeleton. Beyond this limit, the permeable granular skeleton is efficiently formed, and the macro pores between the separate gravels are partially filled, which is the explanation lbr the permeability increase. The investigations indicate the subgrade resistance modulus （ks0, Ev2, and Evd） depends on the granite gravel content, and the resistance modulus increases significantly beyond granite gravel content of 50%. The skeletons of granitc gravel clayey sand mixture change in the long-term deformation objected to the train-induced dynamic load, which involves three main repeated and circular deformation stages. Generally, the long-time deformation is explained as the gravel crushing and filling the internal porous space with crushed gravel fragments. Through these investigations, the C40-G60 or C30-G70 is recommended as an optimum soil mixture for the good permeability and high resistance modulus.

Bending the Foundation Beam on Elastic Base by Two Reaction Coefficient of Winkler’s Subgrade

A new method for analysis of counter beams is presented in the paper. The analysis has taken into account their stiffness EI, Winkler’s space with modulus of subgrade reaction k and equality deformities of the foundation beam with the ground. The solution is found by using the numerical analysis of the Winkler’s model, with variation of different moduli of the subgrade reaction k2 outside the force zone r, while under the force P exists the modulus of the subgrade reaction k, up to the definition of minimum bending moments. The exponential function k2(r), as the geometric position of the minimum moments is approximately assumed. From the potential energy conditions of the reciprocity of displacement and reaction, the width of the zone r and the modulus of the subgrade reaction k2 are explicitly determined, introducing in the calculation initial and calculation soil displacement wsi successively. At the end of the paper, it presented numerical example in which the influence of k and k2 values on bending moments of the counter beam is analyzed. The essential idea of this paper is to decrease the quantity of the reinforcement in the foundations, beams, i.e. to obtain a cost-efficient foundation construction.

Structural Design of Pavement Overlays Based on Functional Parameters

This paper reports a practical pavement overlay design method based on PCI (Pavement Condition Index). Current pavement investigation method (JTJ 073 96) is compared to the ASTM D 5340, which is the standard test method for airport pavement condition evaluation initially developed for US Air Force. The deficiency in the calculation of PCI based on field data in JTJ 073 is discussed. The proposed design method is compared to AASHTO overlay design method with good agreement. The paper concludes with an example illustrating how the existing pavement structural capacity is related to pavement distress survey results. The presented design method can be used in the design for overlay rehabilitation of pavements of highways, urban streets and airports.

Load-settlement behaviour of a strip footing resting on iron ore tailings as a structural fill

This study presents a laboratory investigation of load-settlement behaviour of a strip footing resting on iron ore tailings used as a structural fill.The footing was placed at various depths in the tailings bed.The relative density of the tailings was varied as D_r = 50%,70%and 90%.An incremental load was applied on the footing while observing the settlement until the failure took place.The results obtained for tailings were compared with those for the sandy soil.It is observed that the load-bearing capacity and stiffness increase with an increase in footing embedment depth and relative density.Compared to load-settlement behaviour of Perth sandy soil,the tailings fill could have as high as 22 times and 13.5 times the load-bearing capacity and stiffness,respectively.Therefore,the replacement of sandy soil with iron ore tailings for structural fills is cost-effective,and moreover,this application contributes to environmental sustainability in construction.

Prediction of falling weight deflectometer parameters using hybrid model of genetic algorithm and adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system

A falling weight deflectometer is a testing device used in civil engineering to measure and evaluate the physical properties of pavements,such as the modulus of the subgrade reaction(Y1)and the elastic modulus of the slab(Y2),which are crucial for assessing the structural strength of pavements.In this study,we developed a novel hybrid artificial intelligence model,i.e.,a genetic algorithm(GA)-optimized adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system(ANFIS-GA),to predict Y1 and Y2 based on easily determined 13 parameters of rigid pavements.The performance of the novel ANFIS-GA model was compared to that of other benchmark models,namely logistic regression(LR)and radial basis function regression(RBFR)algorithms.These models were validated using standard statistical measures,namely,the coefficient of correlation(R),mean absolute error(MAE),and root mean square error(RMSE).The results indicated that the ANFIS-GA model was the best at predicting Y1(R=0.945)and Y2(R=0.887)compared to the LR and RBFR models.Therefore,the ANFIS-GA model can be used to accurately predict Y1 and Y2 based on easily measured parameters for the appropriate and rapid assessment of the quality and strength of pavements.