# An Optimized Approach to Multistage Permanent Deformation Testing of Granular Materials

## TL;DR

The paper presents a new method to efficiently assess permanent deformation in granular materials under cyclic loading for pavement design.

## Contribution

The novelty lies in using a cycle-hardening approach to correlate short-term and long-term plastic strain accumulation with fewer load cycles.

## Key findings

- The cycle-hardening approach reduces the number of load cycles needed for deformation characterization.
- The method maintains assessment validity while improving time and resource efficiency.
- Short-term and long-term plastic strain accumulation are effectively correlated using this strategy.

## Abstract

Accurately characterizing permanent deformation in granular materials subjected to cyclic loading is crucial for pavement design. This paper introduces an alternative approach to characterizing permanent deformation in a framework that reduces the number of load cycle repetitions by applying an alternative analytical strategy based on plastic strain rate variation over time. The methodology uses a cycle-hardening approach to establish correlations between short-term (post-compaction) and long-term (shakedown state) plastic strain accumulation. This alternative approach provides an efficient means to accelerate the characterization of permanent deformation, ensuring the integrity and validity of the assessment in a more time-efficient and resource-optimized way.