I remember
sitting in soil mechanics class (CEIE 331) where my professor, now OSCAR
mentor, Dr. Burak Tanyu passionately spoke about the comprehensive process of
road construction. I walked away from that class with more questions than
answers. Some questions included the
type of aggregate used and its durability. Majority of research on road
aggregate is conducted through the use of the Micro-Deval and the process
indicated by ASTM D6928. Therefore my research was to investigate the
credibility of the correlation between the results from the Micro-Deval test
and that of field performance. In addition I sought to understand the
correlation between aggregate and revolution, aggregate and abrasion, and
lastly, aggregate and saturation time. This project has opened my eyes to a potential
future in the geotechnical field. I was revealed to the necessity in understanding
the lab component of engineering. As an aspiring master’s degree student, being
exposed to research and being able to differentiate between the lab performance
and that in the field is vital. This project has solidified my desire and
success in the engineering world.
My week
consists of a balance between laboratory work and literary research. With
regards to the experimentation, this includes weighing samples, abrasion,
washing samples, oven-drying samples, and running the Micro-Deval which in
itself takes about four hours. It also includes preforming other tests such as
specific gravity and absorption tests as well as sieve analyses. I also meet up
with my professor on a weekly basis to discuss the results of the experiment
and the literature. The literature I continuously read includes ASTMs,
scientific articles, past experiments, and technical reports.
Every
week, new discoveries are made as I perform more experiments. This week I
discovered the lack of correlation between saturation time and the percent loss
of aggregate due to abrasion. This is significant for it allows us to conclude that
a saturation time of one hour is a good indicator of aggregate loss with
regards to diabase, limestone, and slate. Overall, this experience has shown me
who I am as a geotechnical researcher.
