Laboratory and Field Investigations on Geofoam

Abstract

Lightweight fill materials are being increasingly used as a construction material for enhanced construction operations featuring construction on soft ground, in cold regions, and in earthen structures and above buried pipes/culverts. Extensive studies were performed in the last decade on a wide variety of lightweight fill materials used in construction practices. One such material is expanded polystyrene (EPS) geofoam, which has been used as a geotechnical material since the 1960s. This research paper presents EPS geofoam characterization through laboratory and field investigations and enhances the understanding of this material to reduce the performance disparity between the laboratory and the field. The laboratory characterization studies involved evaluation of densities, stiffness, and unconfined compressive strength (UCS). The field characterization studies involved evaluating stress distribution by instrumenting the EPS geofoam with pressure cells. It was observed that the stress distribution in the EPS 22 geofoam material was different from that determined by the methods published in the literature. This paper highlights the comprehensive analysis of material characterization and behavior of EPS 22 geofoam under laboratory and field conditions.