ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Mech. Eng.
Sec. Solid and Structural Mechanics
This article is part of the Research TopicEngineered lightweight materials for translational sustainable solutions: modelling, experimental characterizations and environmental assessmentsView all articles
Experimental Study on the Road Performance of Reduced Density Fly Ash–Clayey Sand Subgrade Mixtures from the Yellow River Floodplain
Provisionally accepted
- Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, China
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To address challenges in subgrade construction using Yellow River floodplain soils, this study developed a reduced density filler by mixing aged fly ash with locally sourced clayey sand. The research aimed to establish a robust framework for bridging the gap between pavement design specifications (resilient modulus, E0 ) and construction quality control (compaction degree, K), enabling performance-based quality assurance. Laboratory experiments evaluated compaction characteristics, California Bearing Ratio (CBR), and Laboratory Static Resilient Modulus (E0 lab) of the mixtures. Results showed optimal performance at 30-36% fly ash content, achieving maximum CBR of 23.6% and 0 lab of 54.56 MPa. A novel global regression model was established, directly linking CBR to both K and fly ash content (FA%), offering a powerful tool for construction quality assurance. Furthermore, a practical pathway was developed to convert E0 lab to field design E0 (via CBR and existing correlations), 1 Fund Project : China Engineering Science and Technology Development Strategy Shandong Research Institute Consultation Research Project : Shandong Province Industrial Carbon Peak Technology Development Path Strategy Research ; Shandong Province Enterprise Technology Innovation Project : Research on Road Performance and Construction Technology of Expressway Light Solid Waste and Silt Mixture facilitating the translation of laboratory findings into engineering design. This research culminates in a unified framework for construction quality control, providing recommended K and FA% acceptance windows to guarantee target E0 and CBR values. The developed mixtures are highly suitable for Class II (lower layers) and Class III/IV (top layers) highway subgrades. This study offers robust technical support for sustainable fly ash utilization and performance-driven subgrade construction.
Keywords: Construction quality evaluation, fly ash- clayey sand mixtures, reduced densitysubgrade filler, Road performance, solid wasteutilization, Subgrade engineering
Received: 08 Aug 2025; Accepted: 30 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Xiuru, JI and cheng. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: QiaoLing JI
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