Determination of the Modulus of Resilience of Expanded Clay Stabilized with Recycled Concrete Waste Using Cyclic Triaxial Testing

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Seyed Taha Tabatabaei Aghda 1
Hosns Soeizi 2
1 Assistant Professor, Housing & Urban Development Research Center, Tehran, Iran.
2 M.Sc., Grad., Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Technical and Engineering, Imam Khomeini International University, Qazvin, Iran.
10.22034/road.2025.489108.2334
Abstract
In urban areas and developed countries, due to the lack of sufficient space for road construction, roads may be built on expansive clay soils, which are considered problematic soils. Recycled Concrete Aggregates (RCA) can be used as alternative materials in road construction projects. In this research, RCA waste was used as an additive to stabilize expansive clay soil, and the behavior of the stabilized soil with this additive was analyzed to improve its physical and strength properties. A series of laboratory tests, including gradation, particle density, Atterberg limits, standard compaction, and cyclic triaxial tests, were conducted. The results showed that adding RCA waste to expansive clay soil reduces the liquid limit (LL) and plasticity index (PI), while also decreasing the optimum moisture content and increasing the maximum dry density. Additionally, a series of cyclic triaxial tests were conducted in accordance with the AASHTO T307 standard to determine the resilient modulus (Mr) of different mixtures at curing times of 7 and 28 days. The results indicated that the presence of RCA materials in the clay soil increases the mobilized strength and friction, leading to an increase in the resilient modulus. Furthermore, due to pozzolanic reactions, the Mr values obtained for all mixtures at the 28-day curing time were higher than those at the 7-day curing time.
Keywords
Resilience Modulus
Stabilization
Clay Soil
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