Research on Mechanical Properties and Design Methods of Graded Gravel in Intercity Railways
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 36, Issue 5
Abstract
Graded gravel is a typical filler for railroad subgrade and the procedures for designing and evaluating it are crucial. The current specifications only stipulate the physical indicators of graded gravel material groups and the mechanical indications following on-site compaction. The lack of indoor mechanical standards makes it impossible to predict the on-site construction. Furthermore, the specification specifies various varieties and vast ranges of gradation, making it difficult to construct a skeleton structure. The current specification uses the heavy compaction method (HCM) and static compaction method (SCM) for the test method of graded gravel, which are no longer compatible with the current vibration compaction molding process. In this work, the effects of grading types, compaction coefficients, and water content conditions on the mechanical properties of the subgrade surface grading gravel were studied. Then the correlation between the field and indoor mechanical indexes was investigated and the predictive index of graded gravel was proposed and verified by combining it with the test section. The results show that compared with HCM and SCM, the correlation between vertical vibration compaction method (VVCM) and the field was greater than 90%. Compared with standard graded gravel, the California bearing ratio (CBR), , and of the strongly embedded skeleton compact gradation (VGM) graded gravel can be increased by 55%, 162%, and 171%, respectively. When the compaction coefficient increases by 1%, the CBR, , and can be increased by 12%, 28%, 31%, respectively. Compared with graded gravel with the optimal water content, the CBR, , and of dry graded gravel can be increased by 7%, 94%, and 14%. The proposed design standard, acceptance standard, and graded gravel design method can better predict the index on-site.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or codes that support the results of this study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
This research was supported by the Science and Technology Project of the Shannxi Provincial Department of Transportation (Nos. 18-02K, 20-02K, and 19-27K). The authors gratefully acknowledge all the financial support.
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Published In
Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 36 • Issue 5 • May 2024
Copyright
© 2024 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: May 31, 2022
Accepted: Oct 23, 2023
Published online: Feb 22, 2024
Published in print: May 1, 2024
Discussion open until: Jul 22, 2024
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