Divagation of stabilized pavement materials

Stabilized soils are being increasingly used in the construction of roads. Characterization of these materials in terms of strength and stress–strain response have been extensively made. With the increasing demand for higher wheel loads, more appropriate characterization of these materials is called for. Fracture energy of the material appears to be the most promising and seems to reflect the realistic response of the material under any desired stress field subjected to cyclic loading, including the stage of material divagation. In this paper properties of cement–stabilized silts which are extensively used in India are presented. Using energy concept, remaining life of pavements has been expressed in a mathematical form. This equation can be used to estimate the remaining life of pavements from the data obtained from the laboratory tests. Illustrations have been provided for direct use by practising engineers.