Characterizing Resilient Behavior of Naturally Occurring Bituminous Sands for Road Construction
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 22, Issue 11
Abstract
Oil sand is a generic name given to natural deposits of bituminous sand materials that are mined for crude oil production. These materials are currently used as subgrade materials of temporary and permanent roads in oil sand fields for operating large capacity haul trucks and shovels. This paper focuses on determining in laboratory the resilient behavior of three oil sand materials with bitumen contents of 8.5, 13.3, and 14.5% by weight. The resilient modulus properties were obtained using a newly established repeated load triaxial test procedure. From the test results, nonlinear models were successfully developed in the forms of K-theta, Witczak-Uzan, and the mechanistic empirical pavement design guide (MEPDG) models to properly characterize temperature and stress dependent resilient behavior. The modified K-theta model predicted the overall dependency on applied stress states and temperature quite satisfactorily for all the three oil sands when compared to the modified Witczak-Uzan and MEPDG models. The results presented and the models developed can be practically used to estimate the field stiffness behavior of oil sands as subgrade materials.
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Acknowledgments
The writers would like to acknowledge Dr. Liqun Chi and Dr. Kaiming Xia of Caterpillar, Inc. of Peoria, Ill. for their collaborative efforts in funding this paper. Also, the immense contribution of Professor Emeritus Samuel Carpenter of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to this study is acknowledged.
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Information
Published In
Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 22 • Issue 11 • November 2010
Pages: 1085 - 1092
Copyright
© 2010 ASCE.
History
Received: Jul 27, 2009
Accepted: Apr 29, 2010
Published online: May 7, 2010
Published in print: Nov 2010
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