Strain Accumulation Due to Cyclic Loadings

Abstract: The formation of plastic strains in non-cohesive soils due to large number of loading cycles is a phenomenon of great importance in geotechnical and civil engineering. It constitutes a considerable cause for failures and deformations in various types of engineering applications including pavements. Strain accumulation due to cyclic loading has been studied for years through different models. This thesis reviews various models and focuses on the Bochum model through which, the most contributing soil and traffic parameters on permanent strains formation in pavement subgrades can be figured out. This represents the base for studying the serviceability of increasing the gross weights of vehicles that affect the behavior and size of cyclic loading. This was discussed through investigating the efficacy of increasing the number of vehicle axles and through increasing the vehicle gross weight while keeping the number of axles to check their impacts at the levels of strain formation in soil and consequently on its deformation. The results showed a considerable difference in settlements after changing the axle configurations of vehicles through increasing its number of axles. The work is expected to open a new area of scientific research in pavement designs seeking for ideal configurations of vehicle axles and to provide an advanced approach for studying soil deformations due to higher cyclic loadings.