An Improved Mechanistic-Empirical Creep Model for Unsaturated Soft and Stabilized Soils

Abstract

Soft soils are usually treated to mitigate their engineering problems, such as excessive deformation, and stabilization is one of most popular treatments. Although there are many creep models to characterize the deformation behaviors of soil, there still exist demands for a balance between model accuracy and practical application. Therefore, this paper aims at developing a Mechanistic-Empirical creep model (MEC) for unsaturated soft and stabilized soils. The model considers the stress dependence and incorporates moisture sensitivity using matric suction and shear strength parameters. This formulation is intended to predict the soil creep deformation under arbitrary water content and arbitrary stress conditions. The results show that the MEC model is in good agreement with the experimental data with very high R-squared values. In addition, the model is compared with the other classical creep models for unsaturated soils. While the classical creep models require a different set of parameters when the water content is changed, the MEC model only needs one set of parameters for different stress levels and moisture conditions, which provides significant facilitation for implementation. Finally, a finite element simulation analysis of subgrade soil foundation is performed for different loading levels and moisture conditions. The MEC model is utilized to predict the creep behavior of subgrade soils. Under the same load and moisture level, the deformation of soft soil is largest, followed by lime soil and RHA–lime-stabilized soil, respectively.

Experimental Study on Durability Degradation of Geopolymer-Stabilized Soil under Sulfate Erosion

“…Defects such as differential settlement, lateral spreading, and instability occur due to the low-strength, high-compressibility, and inhomogeneity of the natural soft soil subgrade under traffic loading, thus affecting the quality of highway construction and the safety of vehicle operation [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. Chemical stabilization reinforcement is an effective method to solve the insufficient bearing performance of the in situ soft-soil subgrade [ 4 ].…”

Experimental Testing and Constitutive Modelling of Pavement Materials

“…The model prediction results agreed well with the laboratory uniaxial compressive creep tests with different stress levels and temperatures. An improved mechanistic-empirical creep model considering the stress dependence and moisture sensitivity was proposed for the unsaturated soft and stabilized soils [22]. This developed model can predict the soil creep deformation under arbitrary water content and stress levels.…”