Shear Strength Deterioration of Compacted Residual Soils under a Wind Turbine due to Drying-Wetting Cycles and Vibrations

The soil beneath a wind turbine withstands not only environmental impacts but also continuous vibrations transmitted from the superstructure. This paper presents an experimental study of the deterioration characteristics of shear strengths of residual soils affected by drying-wetting cycles and continuous vibrations. A series of triaxial tests were performed on compacted residual soil specimens after various drying-wetting cycles and vibrations. The influences of drying-wetting cycles and vibrations on the shear strengths of residual soils with different compaction degrees were analyzed. The results demonstrate that the shear strength and cohesion of compacted residual soils decreased as the number of drying-wetting cycles increased, and they tended to be stable after three drying-wetting cycles. The angle of internal friction decreased linearly with the reduction of compaction degree but was generally not affected by drying-wetting cycles. The shear strength of compacted residual soils also decreased because of continuous vibrations. After 10000 vibrations, the strength was stabilized gradually. Both the cohesion and angle of internal friction showed dynamic attenuation phenomenon. Finally, a modified Mohr–Coulomb strength equation considering the effects of drying-wetting cycles and vibrations was established. This equation could be used to predict the shear strength of compacted residual soils and further estimate the embedded depth of wind turbine foundations.

Building Sustainable Pavements: Investigating the Effectiveness of Recycled Tire Rubber as a Modifier in Asphalt Mixtures

Building more sustainable pavements for the future requires knowledge of alternative and innovative materials for utilization in future road construction and maintenance activities. Being mindful of this need, the present study investigates a Reacted and Activated Rubber (RAR) compound modifier with the aim of defining an optimal RAR percentage in Asphalt Concrete (AC) mixes. It is acknowledged that when this type of modifier is incorporated within an AC mix as an alternative for the bituminous binder material, the associated economic, environmental and social benefits are significant. Simply put, the use of RAR modifiers provides the potential to utilize a waste product (rubber tires) as a more sustainable alternative to bitumen within AC mixtures. However, it seems that the information about the overall performance of AC mixes modified with RAR is currently limited. On these grounds, the present study focuses on the surface course layer and evaluates (a) achieved physical characteristics (compaction degree/voids), (b) mechanical characterization results (stiffness moduli) and (c) friction-based properties of tested mixtures incorporating varying RAR levels and different test temperatures. From the evaluation, it is concluded that for the case of the surface course mixture under investigation, the optimal percentage by weight of bitumen for inclusion of the RAR modifier is 10%.

Resilient modulus and cumulative plastic strain of frozen silty clay under dynamic aircraft loading

This paper describes an investigation into the factors influencing the resilient modulus and cumulative plastic strain of frozen silty clay. A series of dynamic triaxial tests are conducted to analyze the influence of the temperature, confining pressure, frequency, and compaction degree on the resilient modulus and cumulative plastic strain of frozen silty clay samples. The results show that when the temperature is below − 5 °C, the resilient modulus decreases linearly, whereas when the temperature is above − 5 °C, the resilient modulus decreases according to a power function. The resilient modulus increases logarithmically when the frequency is less than 2 Hz and increases linearly once the frequency exceeds 2 Hz. The resilient modulus increases as the confining pressure and compaction degree increase. The cumulative plastic strain decreases as the temperature decreases and as the confining pressure, frequency, and compaction degree increase. The research findings provide valuable information for the design, construction, operation, maintenance, safety, and management of airport engineering in frozen soil regions.

Method of estimating the effective zone induced by rapid impact compaction

This paper proposes a method for estimating the effective zone, including effective depth and effective range of compaction degree, from rapid impact compaction (RIC) on sand layer whose fines content is less than 10%. The proposed method utilizes a string of microelectromechanical system accelerometers to monitor the acceleration at various depths and propagation distances during compaction. To interpret and extract useful information from monitored data, peak-over-threshold (POT) processing and normal distribution function were used to analyze the recorded acceleration. The mean and standard deviation of the threshold peak acceleration were used to evaluate the effective depth and the effective range of compaction degree during RIC compaction. Moreover, spatial contours were used to determine the correlation of the threshold peak acceleration against depth and propagation distance from the RIC impact point. These contours help indicating the distribution of the effect zone after compaction. Lastly, a proposed method is suggested for frequent use in trial tests to quickly determine RIC’s required depth and impact spacing.

Research on Intelligent Compaction Technology of Subgrade Based on Regression Analysis

A remote monitoring system with the intelligent compaction index CMV as the core is designed and developed to address the shortcomings of traditional subgrade compaction quality evaluation methods. Based on the actual project, the correlation between the CMV and conventional compaction indexes of compaction degree K and dynamic resilient modulus E is investigated by applying the one-dimensional linear regression equation for three types of subgrade fillers, clayey gravel, pulverized gravel, and soil-rock mixed fill, and the scheme of fitting CMV to the mean value of conventional indexes is adopted, which is compared with the scheme of fitting CMV to the single point of conventional indexes in the existing specification. The test results show that the correlation between the CMV and conventional indexes of clayey gravel and pulverized gravel is much stronger than that of soil-rock mixed subgrades, and the correlation coefficient can be significantly improved by fitting CMV to the mean of conventional indexes compared with single-point fitting, which can be considered as a new method for intelligent rolling correlation verification.

Research on the Construction Technology of Self-Monitoring Asphalt Concrete

Combined with the paving of the test section of Self-monitoring Asphalt Concrete, the electrode burying mode of pavement construction is designed according to its characteristics, and the best mixing method and spreading rolling construction technology are compared and analyzed. The results show that the construction structure of the test section is reasonable and feasible, the best mixing effect can be obtained by adding conductive phase material and asphalt at the same time, and the rolling process. The order of rubber wheel and steel wheel compaction has no significant effect on compaction degree.

Effect of Thickness and Compaction Degree of Overburden Soil on Radon Reduction for Uranium Tailings Reservoir

The thickness and compaction degree of the overburden soil on the beach of the uranium tailings reservoir has an important influence on the radon reduction rate. A theoretical model of radon exhalation is established and an experimental device is designed. The main results are as follows. (1) The radon reduction rate increases with the increase of thickness. When the soil compaction degree is 85.5%, 90.2%, and 94.8%, the radon reduction efficiency increases significantly when the thickness increases from 5 cm to 10 cm, and when the soil thickness is over 10 cm, the increase of radon reduction efficiency tends to be stable. When the compaction degree is 80.9%, the radon reduction rate always increases obviously with the increase of the thickness of the overburden soil, but the increase rate shows a downward trend. (2) The radon reduction rate increases gradually with the increase of compaction degree, and the increasing trend becomes less obvious when the compaction degree is more than 85.5%. Besides, the effect of the change of soil compaction on radon reduction rate decreases with the increase of soil thickness. The calculation formulas about the effect of thickness and compaction degree on radon reduction rate can guide the design and construction of radiation protection of uranium tailings reservoir.