A new indirect tensile testing setup to determine stiffness properties of lightly stabilised granular materials

Abstract

This paper presents a new indirect diametral tensile (IDT) testing setup for determining the stiffness modulus and Poisson's ratio for the characterisation of lightly stabilized granular base materials required for pavement design. The experimental program included the determination of IDT strength, stiffness modulus and Poisson's ratio for a typical freshly quarried granular base material stabilised by the addition of 1-3% cement-flyash slow-setting binder. The samples, prepared using a gyratory compactor, were cured for 28 days and then tested in the IDT testing machine. Details of the new IDT testing arrangement with on-sample deformation measurement for performing monotonic testing to obtain both the horizontal and vertical deformations along the diameters of an IDT specimen are discussed. This study indicates that the proposed IDT testing setup could be used consistently for determining the stiffness modulus and Poisson's ratio of a lightly stabilised granular material. 2016 Australian Geomechanics Society.