Evaluation of Pile Technique to Improve Weak Subgrade Soil Under Traffic Loading
DOI: 10.14419/ijet.v7i4.20.26419
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Summary
This study addresses the engineering challenge of constructing flexible pavements on weak, saturated fine-grained subgrade soils, which are characterized by low shear strength and significant volume changes. Such conditions often lead to slope instability, high settlements, and prolonged consolidation times, ultimately reducing pavement service life through distress mechanisms like rutting and cracking. The research evaluates the efficacy of using a pile technique to improve the performance of asphalt frameworks under cyclic traffic loading, aiming to enhance the bearing capacity of the foundation soil and reduce permanent deformation. The investigation employed a combined experimental and numerical approach. Laboratory tests utilized two paired models: a raw material model and a pile-supported model. The physical models were constructed in steel boxes (600x600x700 mm) comprising layers of subgrade soil (sourced from Baghdad), subbase, base, and asphalt concrete. Aluminum hollow square bars served as piles, arranged in a 4x4 group with specific spacing. A custom loading system applied a cyclic load of 2.75 kN, generating a contact stress of 550 kPa to simulate single-axle wheel loads. Complementing the physical tests, three-dimensional finite element models were developed using ABAQUS software (version 6.14.4). The numerical models simulated the pavement layers with specific material characteristics: the asphalt concrete was modeled as linear viscoelastic, while the base, subbase, and subgrade were modeled as elasto-plastic materials using the Mohr-Coulomb criterion. The results demonstrated that the pile technique significantly improved pavement performance. Laboratory data indicated that the permanent displacement at the surface of the asphalt concrete layer decreased by 14.62% in the pile-supported model compared to the raw material model after 1,600 load cycles. The finite element analysis corroborated these findings, showing good agreement between the numerical simulations and experimental results. The ABAQUS outputs confirmed that the pile-supported configuration effectively reduced vertical displacement under cyclic loading, with minor discrepancies attributed to assumed input data for material properties. The study concludes that utilizing a pile technique is a practical and effective method for stabilizing weak subgrade soils under flexible pavement structures. The findings indicate that piles enhance the foundation soil's ability to resist displacement caused by transmitted cyclic loads, thereby mitigating distress and potentially extending the service life of the pavement. The strong correlation between the experimental and numerical results validates the use of 3D finite element modeling as a reliable tool for analyzing and designing pavement systems on difficult subgrade conditions.
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| Stage | Outcome | Tool | Model | Prompt | Attempts | Completed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| discover | success | Crossref | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-20 |
| archive | success | canonical_url | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-26 |
| extract | success | cached | — | — | 2 | 2026-06-26 |
| clean | success | clean | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-20 |
| chunk | success | chunk | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-20 |
| embed | success | embed | Qwen/Qwen3-Embedding-8B | — | 1 | 2026-06-20 |
| promote | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-20 |
| summarize | success | llm | qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant | summ-v5 | 1 | 2026-06-26 |
| tag | success | vector_similarity | — | — | 6 | 2026-06-20 |
| verify | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-26 |
Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-26; verification: verified.
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