Micro-to-Macro Insights into Durability of Stabilized Soils Exposed to Wetting-Drying Cycles

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. The study will be conducted on soft soil (low-plasticity clay) with two different stabilizers, namely Portland limestone cement and lime. Modification to the workability and strength characteristics of the stabilized soils will be quantified through laboratory tests, including Atterberg limits, Proctor compaction, and Unconfined Compressive Strength (UCS) tests, and the optimum dosages of the stabilizers will be determined. Durability assessment of the stabilized soils with optimum dosages will be evaluated for 0, 2, 4, 8, and 12 W-D cycles following the ASTM D559 & AASHTO T135 testing protocols with different specimen sizes. Mass loss, volumetric strain, and UCS values post-durability cycles will be recorded from different specimen sizes and compared to evaluate the effects of specimen size on the durability evaluation. This data will be beneficial for simplifying and advancing the durability testing protocols. Additionally, advanced X-ray micro-Computed Tomography (μCT) will be used to visualize and quantify internal microstructural changes, such as pore connectivity and crack morphology evolution, in miniature soil specimens. Image analysis algorithms may be developed for the robust and accurate quantification of the microstructure. Finally, correlations will be developed between the total porosity, number of cracks, crack length, crack width, and the UCS values of soil for various durability cycles. These correlations are expected to aid in the realistic prediction of the long-term performance of stabilized soils. Micro-perspectives and insights from this project will be crucial for developing more resistant and durabletransportation infrastructure in regions with problematic soils.

• Record URL:
  • https://www.sptc.org/cy3-tamu-02

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $75,000.00
• Contract Numbers:

  69A3552348306 (CY3-TAMU-02)

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Southern Plains Transportation Center

  University of Oklahoma
  202 W Boyd St, Room 213A
  Norman, OK  United States  73019

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Managing Organizations:

  University of Oklahoma, Norman

  School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science
  202 West Boyd Street, Room 334
  Norman, OK  United States  73019
• Project Managers:

  Ghasemi, Hamid

• Performing Organizations:

  Texas A&M University, College Station

  Zachry Department of Civil Engineering
  3136 TAMU
  College Station, TX  United States  77843-3136
• Principal Investigators:

  Huang, Jianxin

  Lakkimsetti, Balaji

  Puppala, Anand J

• Start Date: 20260101
• Expected Completion Date: 20270101
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers Program

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Cement treated soils; Cyclic tests; Expansive clays; Soft clays; Stability analysis; Wetting and drying tests
• Subject Areas: Geotechnology; Highways; Materials; Pavements;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01976204
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Southern Plains Transportation Center
• Contract Numbers: 69A3552348306 (CY3-TAMU-02)
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Jan 12 2026 3:59PM