Efeito da variação da energia de compactação sobre as propriedades mecânicas de um solo laterítico

Abstract

This paper aims at studying the mechanical behavior of two lateritic soils samples located in Rio Grande do Norte state, in the São José de Mipibu and Canguaretama city. Therefore, it was performed laboratory tests of geotechnical characterization, compaction and California Bearing Ratio (CBR). Typical of tropical places, this kind of soil is naturally found with high void ratio and little support capacity. When compressed, however, its support capacity is improved, and because of this it is widely used in many soil works. The results indicated that the Canguaretama sample, even being a clayey sand, had a good behavior when it was supercharged, denying the false idea that clay materials can’t be used as pavement layers in road works. The same wasn’t noticed, however, with the São José de Mipibu material, which showed a peculiar behavior, decreasing the value of CBR when it was compressed with the modified energy. This result make us believe that the sample collected in this field, unlike of the Canguaretama sample, can be not a lateritic material.