UTC 2022 Funding - Cycle 2 Research Projects

Project No.: CY3-TAMU-02
Title: Micro-to-Macro Insights into Durability of Stabilized Soils Exposed to Wetting-Drying Cycles  
Performing Institution: Texas A&M University
Principal Investigator: Jianxin Huang, Anand J. Puppala, and Balaji Lakkimsetti, Texas A&M University
Start and Anticipated Completion Dates: 01/01/2026 to 01/15/2027 
Abstract: Roads built on problematic soils like expansive and soft clays often fail prematurely due to issues like heaving, cracking, and rutting. Low-strength, high-compressibility, and moisture sensitivity of these soils, primarily driven by the reactive nature of clay minerals, are the underlying causes for this. Stabilizing such problematic soils with cementitious binders is a common practice. Soils are often subjected to severe Wetting-Drying (W-D) cycles due to extreme weather events like flooding during monsoons and heat waves during summers and the long-term durability of stabilized soils under these stresses remains a critical concern. Often, failure in the system due to these W-D cycles is progressive in nature, starting from the generation of micro-cracks that eventually propagate into fully developed fractures within the soil mass. Also, the pore structure and pore connectivity alter significantly during this process, and manifest into the overall strength and performance deterioration. The evolution of the pore network, number of cracks, and their morphological features, like the length, width, and connectivity, are extremely important to understand the longevity and durability of stabilized soils to ensure safety of the transportation infrastructure. With this objective, this project aims to investigate the micro-to-macro scale damage progression in stabilized soils subjected to the W-D durability cycles.  
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