We are pleased to share our latest findings in a research study conducted in partnership with the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Alberta. The experiment program was conducted and documented by students Linping Wu and Wei Victor Liu from the University of Alberta and Riley Cram and Diana Nicholson of Cypher Environment. The overall objective of the proposed research was to develop a new design approach for mine haul road pavements with stabilized layers.
The research first set out to develop and validate 2D and 3D Finite Element Models (FEM) that were later used to investigate the effects of stabilization on the strain and deflection of a mine haul road and rural municipal road. The study found that not only does stabilization reduce the strain and deflection of roads, it also found that the stabilization of lower layers was more effective in reducing the strain and deflection as compared to the surface layers. These findings led to a new design approach that took into account the theories of elasticity and critical strain limit (CSL) to improve stabilization of the road (CBR). Improved stabilization directly correlates to enhanced performance through improvement in vehicle speed, reduction in wear and tear on vehicles, reduced downtime caused by accidents and injuries from unsafe road conditions.
The research findings:
- Provide insights into Cypher’s ROAD//STABILIZR® product,
- Proposed a new CBR (California Bearing Ratio) design method for mine haul roads to overcome the issue of under-design with the current CBR design method,
- For the first time, a 3D finite element model (FEM) of tire-road interaction was developed and validated to estimate the rolling resistance of tires,
- A 2D model was established to preliminarily investigate the effects of roughness on rolling resistance.
This report is a summary report from the 2-year Mitacs research project. For access to the full paper, please click here.
About Cypher Environmental: Cypher Environmental is a leading global environmental solution provider for dust control and road stabilization. With ESG (Environmental Social Governance) and CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) principles at the core of every decision we make, we proudly boast the tag line, “Always do what’s right.”.