Field Pullout Tests of Steel Strips in Lightweight Cellular Concrete Backfill
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 148, Issue 5
Abstract
Use of lightweight cellular concrete (LCC) as backfill for mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) walls in place of the standard aggregate backfill can reduce foundation soil settlement and lateral earth pressure on the back of the wall facing after construction. However, load transfer between reinforcing steel strips and LCC needs to be understood prior to developing a design method for the LCC MSE wall. In this study, eight field pullout tests of five strips embedded in an LCC wall were conducted. Pullout capacity of steel strips in LCC varied with time for the first 14 days and then became constant, whereas the residual capacity remained approximately constant when the age was greater than 3 days. In addition, the pullout capacity of steel strips did not increase proportionally with the strip length.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
This study was supported by the Kansas Department of Transportation, both financially and through their dedicated staff, including James Brennan, Nathan Jeffrees, and Luke Metheny. The authors thank Brad Dolton and Stephen M. Rachford at CEMATRIX Corporate for their help to cast the lightweight cellular concrete onsite. The authors also thank technicians David Woody and Kent Dye at the University of Kansas for their great help to make the device for field pullout tests. Furthermore, Mr. Cameron M. Dupont was greatly appreciated for his help to conduct the field pullout tests.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 148 • Issue 5 • May 2022
Copyright
© 2022 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: May 5, 2021
Accepted: Jan 25, 2022
Published online: Mar 10, 2022
Published in print: May 1, 2022
Discussion open until: Aug 10, 2022
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