A STRENGTH CRITERION FOR REPEATED LOADS

Abstract

TWO CRITERIA FOR THE STRENGTH OF FINE-GRAINED SOILS SUBJECT TO REPEATED LOADS WERE POSTULATED AND STUDIED. FOR THE TEST CONDITIONS AND SOILS EMPLOYED, ONE OF THE PROPOSED CRITERIA WAS VERIFIED. FAILURE OCCURS WHEN REPEATED STRESSES EXCEED CRITICAL VALUES DETERMINED FROM THE SLOPES OF CURVES IN PLOTS OF DEFORMATION VERSUS NUMBER OF REPETITIONS. NEW FACTS CONCERNING THE STRESS LEVEL VERSUS NUMBER OF STRESS REPETITIONS AND THE COMPACTION CONDITIONS VERSUS ELASTIC REBOUND RELATIONSHIPS SUGGEST THE NEED FOR A CRITICAL REVIEW OF SUBGRADE COMPACTION SPECIFICATIONS FOR HIGHWAY AND AIRFIELD PAVEMENTS. /AUTHOR/