Geo-Congress 2020
Implementing an Analytical Framework to Quantify the Magnitude and Rate of Subgrade Pumping in Flexible Pavement
Publication: Geo-Congress 2020: Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering and Special Topics (GSP 318)
ABSTRACT
Particle transport in porous media can significantly compromise the serviceability of civil infrastructure. For example, pumping or migration of saturated subgrade soil to pavement subbase, adversely affects the performance of the pavement and leads to its failure. In this study, an analytical framework is implemented to 1) understand mechanisms of pumping, and 2) estimate the amount of subgrade fines migration into subbase under traffic loads. The model is verified using results obtained from experimental investigations previously conducted to quantify the amount of pumping. The experimental tests were conducted using one-third model mobile load simulator (MMLS3), an accelerated pavement testing (APT) device. Results showed that the analytical model provided a reasonable prediction of the amount of fines migration from a saturated pavement subgrade to subbase. The study also revealed that the subgrade pumping and the deposition process is governed by hydraulic condition, erodibility of subgrade, grain size of subgrade, grain size and pore size of subbase, permeability of subbase, and viscosity of pore fluid in the subbase.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The financial and technical support provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) for the prior project for the collection of the experimental data utilized in this paper is gratefully acknowledged. Mr. Dan Fura, the infrastructure laboratory supervisor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Penn State, provided valuable technical assistance with the MMLS3 testing. The Geosynthetic Institute (GSI) provided GSI fellowships to the first author.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Geo-Congress 2020: Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering and Special Topics (GSP 318)
Pages: 536 - 548
Editors: James P. Hambleton, Ph.D., Northwestern University, Roman Makhnenko, Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Aaron S. Budge, Ph.D., Minnesota State University, Mankato
ISBN (Online): 978-0-7844-8281-0
Copyright
© 2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Published online: Feb 21, 2020
Published in print: Feb 21, 2020
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Asphalt pavements
- Engineering fundamentals
- Equipment and machinery
- Geomechanics
- Geotechnical engineering
- Gravels
- Infrastructure
- Load tests
- Pavement condition
- Pavements
- Pumps
- Saturated soils
- Soft soils
- Soil mechanics
- Soils (by type)
- Subgrades
- Tests (by type)
- Traffic analysis
- Traffic engineering
- Transportation engineering
Authors
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