Evaluation of the influence of compaction energy on the resilient behavior of lateritic soil in the field and laboratory

Abstract

This article presents the study of the resilient behavior of three soil horizons from a deposit of lateritic soil employed in a pavement structure in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The use of lateritic soils in pavement layers is a common practice in Brazil and due to its peculiarities, its behavior must be investigated. The methodology consisted of physical and chemical characterization and resilient modulus determination. Samples from the three horizons, compacted at standard, intermediate and modified energy, were analyzed. In addition, undisturbed samples extracted from the interior and top layer of the embankment were submitted to repeated load triaxial tests for resilient modulus determination. The results indicated that the soil exhibit good behavior for pavement subgrade applications, perhaps as subbase or base course layers. The compound and universal models yielded the best correlation coefficients. Furthermore, the results showed that as the compaction energy increased, the resilient modulus also increased, as long as they are within the optimum water content and compaction degree limit. However, when subjected to immersion in water for four days, the resilient behavior decreased about 73% in relation to unsaturated samples.