Numerical Modeling of the Behaviour of a Road Structure on Compressible Soil: Case of the Road Section at the Beau-Rivage-Djassin Intersection

This document presents a study of the behaviour of a pavement structure on compressible soil and the evaluation of its durability. The objective of this study is to highlight the impact of taking into account the non-linear elastic behaviour of soils and granular materials in the design process. To this end, a numerical modelling of the pavement of the beau-rivage-Djassin crossroads section in Porto-Novo was carried out, based on a compressible soil whose behaviour will be considered elastoplastic. The subgrade soil on the section is made up of several sub-layers. The layer of soft, highly plastic clay was modelled according to a modified Cam Clay behaviour, a model of swelling clay soils. The fine sand layer and the granular layers of the structure are modelled according to Mohr-Coulomb behaviour. The loading is considered to be uniformly distributed according to the assumptions of the Burmister model in the French standard. A first verification with ALIZE allowed to validate the structure on the basis of the rutting deformation at the head of the platform εz = 359.6*10-6 which remains lower than the admissible deformation εz,adm = 360*10-6. The numerical calculation was carried out using the finite element method, the code of which is implemented under the PLAXIS v21 software. A comparative study with the results of the ALIZE design revealed that the numerically calculated strains εz = 585*10-6 are higher than those of ALIZE. These numerical strains, which are higher than the elastic strains, do not meet the validation criteria that the strains under loading must remain below the allowable strains. An evaluation of the pavement durability was carried out and it was found that the pavement would only last under traffic for 3 years before the first fatigue deformations appeared.

Physical Characterization of Laterite for the Formulation of Structural Concrete

This study presents another approach to the use of laterite as a common construction material for the development of a new type of concrete. Laterites are found all over the world and are used in various ways in road construction as sub-base, base course or wear courses. Being a material consisting in the raw state of sand and gravel, the study addresses its use for the formulation of structural concrete. The physical characterization made it possible to identify three granular classes distributed as follows: 28.26% passing at 80 μm, 32.12% sand (0.08/4 mm) and 39.62% nodule (4/25) mm. The absolute density of the aggregates varies from 2.73 and 2.82 from the sand to the nodules. The absorption rate varies from 3.01% and 5.71% respectively for sand and nodules. The granular compactness of the different granular classes studied varies from 0.580 to 0.630. The formulation of the concrete was made by the method of absolute volumes by varying the W/C ratio from 0.4 to 0.7, N/S from 2.2 to 2.8 and that of the cement dosage from 350 to 450 kg/m3. The results obtained show that the density of the concrete formulated based on these aggregates of lateritic origin have a density which varies between 2000 and 2300 kg/m3. With a cement content of 400 kg/m3, a W/C ratio of 0.4 and N/S of 2.8, concrete based on lateritic aggregates offers better mechanical performance in compression of approximately 21.23 ± 1.24 MPa at 28 days. This strength class obtained allows laterite concrete to be used as structural concrete in the structure of civil engineering works.

Bending Stresses of Steel Web Tapered Tee Section Cantilevers

Although commonly used, no design method is available for steel web tapered tee section cantilevers. This paper investigates the bending stresses of such beams. Relationships between the maximum compressive stress and the degree of taper were investigated. An analytical model is presented to determine the location of the maximum stress when subjected to a uniformly distributed load or a point load at the free end and was validated using finite element analysis and physical tests. It was found that the maximum stress always occurs at the support when subjected to a uniformly distributed load. When subjected to a point load at the free end and the degree of taper is up to seven, it was found that Miller＇s equation could be used to determine the location of the maximum stress. However, it is shown that when the degree of taper is greater than seven, Miller＇s equation does not accurately predict the location and the analytical model should be used. It was also found that the location of the maximum stress was solely dependent on the degree of taper, while a geometric ratio, fl was required to determine the magnitude of the maximum stress. A simple method that predicts the magnitude of the maximum stress is proposed. The average error in the prediction of the magnitude of the maximum stress is found to be less than 1.0%.