Creep Behavior of Geocell-Reinforced Recycled Asphalt Pavement Bases
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 25, Issue 10
Abstract
The use of recycled asphalt pavement (RAP) materials for roadway construction is a sustainable approach and has received more attention in the recent years. However, permanent deformation, or rutting, is one of the concerns in the use of RAP as a base course due to traffic loading and creep deformation. To minimize the creep deformation, use of a novel polymeric alloy (NPA) geocell was proposed to confine the RAP. One tensile creep test was conducted at a room temperature of approximately 25°C to investigate the creep behavior of the geocell. Nineteen static plate-loading tests were conducted at a room temperature using a medium-sized loading system to evaluate the applied vertical stress-displacement response, the creep strain—time relationship, and the factors influencing the creep deformations of RAP bases. In order to verify the repeatability of the test method, two repeated creep tests were conducted. Well-graded aggregate cover was used in place of the RAP cover to investigate the cover effect on creep deformation behavior of geocell-reinforced RAP bases. The test results showed that the stiffness improvement factors for the geocell-confined RAP over the unreinforced RAP ranged from 1.2 to 1.6. Confinement significantly increased the strength of the RAP. The NPA geocell reduced the initial deformation of RAP samples or bases by 18–73% and their creep rates by 6–60% as compared with the unreinforced base. The creep deformations decreased with an increase in the degree of confinement and a decrease in the applied vertical stress. The well-graded aggregate cover reduced the initial deformation by 58% as compared with the RAP cover. The RAP had a higher creep rate than the geocell in the geocell-reinforced RAP bases.
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Acknowledgments
This development project was jointly sponsored by the University of Kansas, Transportation Research Institute (KUTRI) from Grant #DT0S59-06-G-00047, provided by the U.S. Department of Transportation – Research and Innovative Technology Administration and the Mid-American Transportation Research Institute, and the Geosynthetic Institute through the GSI Fellowship awarded to the first author. PRS Mediterranean in Israel provided the novel polymeric alloy geocell used in this study. R. D. Johnson Excavating, Lawrence, Kansas provided the RAP material. The undergraduate students, Kahle Loveless and Aj Rahman; the laboratory supervisor, Howard J. Weaver; and the laboratory technician, Matthew Maksimowicz at the University of Kansas, provided the assistance in the experimental studies. The authors of this paper are thankful for the above financial support and great help.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 25 • Issue 10 • October 2013
Pages: 1533 - 1542
Copyright
© 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jun 16, 2012
Accepted: Oct 1, 2012
Published online: Oct 4, 2012
Discussion open until: Mar 4, 2013
Published in print: Oct 1, 2013
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