The effective stress concept in the cyclic mechanical behavior of a natural compacted sand

Road pavement structures are generally composed of granular materials. The influence of the unsaturated state, or suction, on the mechanical behavior of unbound granular materials in roads during a large number of cycles has not been given sufficient attention and is not generally considered in models used for these materials. This article presents an experimental study on compacted natural sand in Missillac, France that used the direct shear test and the soil water retention curve (SWRC) to measure the effective stress, and repeated load triaxial tests to determine the material's resilient behavior. The effective stress concept was used in a nonlinear elasticity model to predict the material's resilient behavior under unfavorable moisture conditions, which are one of the most common mechanisms of deterioration in low-traffic pavements. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.