Loading capacity strengthening to cement-stabilised crushed gravel using reinforced wire mesh

AbstractSettlement and non-uniform deformation of frozen soil subgrade introduce fatal cracks on semi-rigid base asphalt pavements. This research aims to use reinforced wire mesh to reduce serious cracks on semi-rigid asphalt pavements in frozen regions. Three impact factors, diameter and interval as well as two types of wire mesh have been analysed by loading tests. Results have shown that after setting the reinforced wire mesh: (a) failure load and displacement of the cement-stabilised crushed gravel samples have been improved; (b) diameter and interval of the wire mesh have interactive impacts on reinforced sample load capacity; (c) the reinforced wire mesh can limit cracks by redistributing stress in the specimen; and (d) the multiple linear regression model well reflects the variation of loading properties; the results make sense from the statistics view as well. Results also represent that the strengthened wire mesh can help spread out the applied load, and increase the overall loading capacity of cement-stabilised crushed gravel. The results provided a reference for semi-rigid base asphalt pavement cracks caused by non-uniform deformation on frozen soil subgrade as well as guidelines for construction and maintenance in frozen regions.Keywords: wire meshreinforcementcement-stabilised crushed gravelsemi-rigid base asphalt pavementload capacity AcknowledgementsThe authors acknowledge the assistance and suggestions of the Editor-in-Chief, Professor Bahia, in preparing our paper for publication. This work has financial support by Western Traffic Construction Science and Technology Project of China (No. 2012 318 79210), the Applied Basic Research Project of the Ministry of Transport of China, the National Science & Technology Support Program during the 12th Five-year Plan Period (No. 2014BAG05B04). The authors would like to express their gratitude to Zhe Han and Kan Long for their help.