Abstract
The U.S. Army Engineering Research and Development Center is developing methods to construct a contingency airfield within a short time that can support C-17 aircraft loadings. The proposed approach is to construct the runway site surface by chemically stabilizing the in-place top soil layer. To develop an optimal stabilized soil mixture, a suite of soil–chemical mixture combinations was examined. Because of the complexity and expense of full-scale testing, a numerical approach is being developed to predict stabilized soil response at contingency airfields. Results from the numerical approach will then be used to supplement data obtained from full-scale tests. Three stabilized soil mixtures were investigated by using stabilizing agents of 6% cement, 4% cement, and 4% cement plus 1.5-in. (38-mm) polypropylene fibers. These three mixtures were evaluated for strength and durability from unconfined compression and repeated load tests. A total of 33 unconfined compression load tests and 48 unconfined repeated load tests were conducted. A numerical model using damage is presented to predict stabilized soil behavior in response to repetitive loading. The damage model is calibrated by using only two material properties and two damage parameters. Results of this study indicate that stabilized soil exhibits plastic behavior and therefore a numerical model for stabilized soil must consider both damage and plastic behavior.
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