A Three-Point Hyperbolic Combination Model for the Settlement Prediction of Subgrade Filled with Construction and Demolition Waste

Abstract

Using construction and demolition waste (CDW) as road subgrade filling materials is an excellent way to solve the disparity between increased demand and road construction aggregate shortages. However, a key quality control problem is predicting the subgrade settlement, primarily because the CDW subgrade settlement prediction methods are not yet mature. To go some way in overcoming this problem, in this paper we developed a three-point hyperbolic combination model to predict CDW subgrade settlement, in which three appropriate points for the measured settlement curve were selected in the prediction samples to improve the hyperbolic model. Then, common prediction models—namely, the hyperbolic model, the three-point model, and the Hushino model—were compared with the proposed combination model to assess its viability. Finally, the three-point hyperbolic combination prediction accuracy was analyzed for different start points t0 and time intervals Δt. The analyses found that the proposed model was in good agreement with the measured data, had a high correlation coefficient, and had only small errors. However, the time interval Δ t needed to be greater than 80 days and the start point t0 needed to be selected at the beginning of the stable post-filling period, that is, t0 = 90–100 days. The application parameters were also determined to provide a reference for the large-scale application and settlement predictions of CDW subgrade.