Geosynthetics have recently been used for base course stabilization of roadways subjected to environmental loads associated with the presence of expansive clay subgrades. Repeated cycles of wet and dry seasons have often led to significant, non-uniform moisture changes within clay subgrades, resulting in differential settlements between the roadway edges and its centerline and, ultimately, in environmental longitudinal cracks. This paper quantifies the field performance of different sites in order to assess the effectiveness of using geosynthetics to stabilize the base course of roadways constructed on expansive clay subgrades. This includes evaluation of five full-scale field projects that had been subjected to actual traffic and environmental loads. The long-term performance of geosynthetic-stabilized and control sections was evaluated by quantifying the development and extent of longitudinal cracks and the degradation of the base course stiffness. Collectively, the performance evaluation of the multiple geosynthetic-stabilized and control sections in the five case studies demonstrates that geosynthetics can effectively mitigate roadway problems associated with expansive clay subgrades. In addition, field performance data also indicates that unconfined stiffness and tensile strength may not be sufficient for proper geosynthetic selection, pointing to the need for selecting them using properties that also quantify the soil-geosynthetic interaction.

中文翻译：

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使用土工合成材料缓解与膨胀粘土路基相关的问题

最近，土工合成材料已被用于对承受与存在膨胀粘土路基相关的环境负荷的道路进行基层稳定。湿季和旱季的反复循环经常导致粘土路基内显着的、不均匀的水分变化，导致道路边缘与其中心线之间的差异沉降，并最终导致环境纵向裂缝。本文量化了不同场地的现场性能，以评估使用土工合成材料稳定膨胀粘土路基上道路基层的有效性。这包括对受到实际交通和环境负荷的五个全面实地项目的评估。通过量化纵向裂缝的发展和范围以及基层刚度的退化，评估土工合成材料稳定和控制部分的长期性能。总的来说，五个案例研究中多个土工合成材料稳定和控制部分的性能评估表明，土工合成材料可以有效缓解与膨胀粘土路基相关的道路问题。此外，现场性能数据还表明，无侧限刚度和抗拉强度可能不足以选择合适的土工合成材料，这表明需要使用能够量化土壤 - 土工合成材料相互作用的特性来选择它们。五个案例研究中多个土工合成材料稳定和控制部分的性能评估表明，土工合成材料可以有效缓解与膨胀粘土路基相关的道路问题。此外，现场性能数据还表明，无侧限刚度和抗拉强度可能不足以选择合适的土工合成材料，这表明需要使用能够量化土壤 - 土工合成材料相互作用的特性来选择它们。五个案例研究中多个土工合成材料稳定和控制部分的性能评估表明，土工合成材料可以有效缓解与膨胀粘土路基相关的道路问题。此外，现场性能数据还表明，无侧限刚度和抗拉强度可能不足以选择合适的土工合成材料，这表明需要使用能够量化土壤 - 土工合成材料相互作用的特性来选择它们。