Effect of Lime Stabilized Soil Cushion on Strength Behaviour of Expansive Soil

An experimental investigation was undertaken to study the effects of lime-stabilized soil-cushion on the strength behavior of expansive soil. In the present investigation, a series of laboratory tests (Unconfined compression tests and CBR tests) were conducted on both expansive soil alone and expansive soil cushioned with lime-stabilized non-expansive cohesive soil. Lime contents of 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10% by dry weight of cohesive non-swelling soil was used in the stabilized soil cushion. Both expansive soil and lime stabilized soil cushion were compacted to Standard Proctor’s optimum condition with thickness ratio 2:1. Tests on cushioned expansive soils were conducted at different curing and soaking periods i.e., 7, 14, 28 and 56 days. The test results revealed that maximum increase in strength was achieved after 14 days of curing or soaking period with 8% of lime content.     

Consolidation and Drainage Characteristics of Expansive Soil Stabilized with Fly Ash and Dolochar

Expansive soils undergo alternate swelling and shrinkage due to cyclic wetting and drying when left to nature. This property of Expansive soil affects its strength and stiffness characteristics thereby causing damage and distress to structures built on them. Industrial wastes can be added scientifically to these soils in modifying and reducing their swelling and shrinkage behaviour and increasing their strength and stiffness. In this technical article, an attempt has been made to study the compressibility and drainage characteristics of these soils using economic and ecofriendly industrial wastes such as Fly Ash and Dolochar as stabilizers. This paper also focuses on many other improved engineering properties of base soil like liquid limit, plasticity index, differential free swell, compaction and consolidation characteristics of Expansive (BC) soil stabilized with Fly Ash and Dolochar in different proportions. The virgin Expansive soil has been collected from eastern part of India (Odisha) and different percentages of Fly Ash (5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 %) and Dolochar (5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 %) were added to it, to predict the influence of these additives on compaction and consolidation characteristics of Expansive soil. Addition of both Fly Ash and Dolochar were found to decrease the index properties such as liquid limit, plastic limit, plasticity index, swelling index and enhancing the consolidation as well as drainage characteristics of Expansive soil. However, the maximum dry density of soil was found to decrease with addition of Fly Ash and increase with addition of Dolochar.     

Unconfined Compression Strength of Polymer Stabilized Forest Soil Clay

Geotechnical and Geological Engineering - Due to undesired mechanical characteristics, some forest soils cause problems in road construction. Several methods have been proposed for stabilizing...     

Study on Strength Influence Mechanism of Fiber-Reinforced Expansive Soil Using Jute

This study was undertaken to research the effects of jute fiber content, fiber length, water content and dry density of reinforced and unreinforced soil on the strength influence mechanism by implementing a series of laboratory tests and analysis. The most efficient fiber reinforcement effects was achieved by means of adding jute fiber with content of 0.6 % and length of 6 mm into expansive soil specimen prepared at maximum dry density and optimum moisture content. The cohesion of reinforced specimens increased first with increasing fiber content and fiber length and then decreased with further increase in fiber content and fiber length. The internal friction angle of reinforced specimens were not affected significantly by fiber content and fiber length. Higher water content reduces the fiber reinforcement effects by means of acting as lubricant in the interface of fiber and soil particles. Fiber reinforcement effects is more prominent for specimens prepared at higher dry density by increasing the effective contact area of fiber/soil. The application prospect of soil reinforcement using natural fiber is impeded by the hydrophilic nature and biodegradability of natural fiber, thus, studies on using chemical additive to do surface treatment for natural fiber are needed to improve the interfacial interaction of fiber/soil so as to widen the application of natural fiber.     

膨胀土的强度与含水量的关系

膨胀土的强度与含水量密切相关。针对这问题进行了相应的试验研究。结果表明,膨胀土的含水量对其峰值强度、稳态强度都有着强烈影响,这对工程设计和工程安全检测非常重要。     

Studies on Hydraulic Conductivity of Fly Ash-Stabilised Expansive Clay Liners

Earthen barriers or clay liners are a major concern in geo-environmental engineering. They are designed to preclude or reduce leachate migration. Hence, a low hydraulic conductivity (k) is an important parameter in the design of clay liners. Materials such as bentonite and lateritic clays, which have a low hydraulic conductivity at high dry densities, are used in the construction of clay liners. Compacted expansive clays which are high in montmorillonite content also have a very low hydraulic conductivity. When expansive clays are blended with fly ash, an industrial waste, the hydraulic conductivity further reduces as the ash-clay blends result in increased dry densities at increased fly ash contents. Hence, fly ash-stabilised expansive clay can also be proposed as an innovative clay liner material. It is, therefore, required to study various physical and engineering properties of this new clay liner material. Liquid limit (LL) and free swell index (FSI) are important index properties to be studied in the case of this clay liner material. The hydraulic conductivity of this new clay liner material depends on the fly ash content in the blend. Further, parameters such as solute concentration and kinematic viscosity also influence hydraulic conductivity of clay liners. This paper presents experimental results obtained on hydraulic conductivity (k) of fly ash-stabilised expansive clay liner at varying fly ash content and solute concentration. The tests were performed with deionised water (DIW), CaCl₂, NaCl and KCl as permeating fluids. Fly ash content in the blend was varied as 0, 10, 20 and 30 % by weight of the expansive clay, and the solute concentration was varied as 5 mM (milli molar), 10, 20, 50, 100 and 500. It was found that hydraulic conductivity (k) decreased with increasing fly ash content, solute concentration and kinematic viscosity. Further, hydraulic conductivity (k) was correlated with LL and FSI of the clay liner material for different fly ash contents and solute concentrations. Useful correlations were obtained.     

Deformation Modulus of Fly Ash Modified with Lime and Gypsum

Deformation modulus of fly ash is one of the most important mechanical properties generally used in different design problems and also as an input parameter to sophisticated numerical techniques employed to assess the response of different structures resting on fly ash fill or embankment made of fly ash. Deformation modulus is usually expressed in terms of compressive strength. This paper presents the deformation modulus of fly ash modified with lime alone or in combination with gypsum at different strain levels. The values of deformation modulus obtained from both unconfined compression test and unconsolidated undrained triaxial test results are presented herein. The specimens for unconfined compression test and for undrained triaxial tests were cured up to 90 and 28 days, respectively. The effects of addition of lime (4–10%) and gypsum (0.5 and 1.0%) on the deformation modulus of class F fly ash are highlighted. With addition of lime and gypsum, the class F fly ash achieved the deformation modulus in the range of 190 MPa in UCS test and up to 300 MPa in triaxial test specimens tested under all round pressure of 0.4 MPa. Based on the present test results empirical relationships are developed to estimate deformation modulus of modified fly ash from unconfined compressive strength and relationships between initial tangent modulus and secant modulus at different strain levels are also developed.     

滇池固化淤泥重塑土的重塑时机及强度恢复特性试验

采用无侧限抗压强度试验和直剪试验,从单轴抗压强度、黏聚力、内摩擦角的角度探求了淤泥固化土重塑时导致的强度折减和重塑后土的强度恢复特性,并分析了重塑前养护龄期（T_前）、重塑后养护龄期（T_后）、水泥掺灰比（a_c）的影响。试验结果表明,重塑时机的选择对淤泥固化土的强度折减程度有显著的影响：T_前越长,破碎过程带来的强度折减越严重,且大致满足a_c越大、强度折减越严重的规律。从强度恢复特性来看：小水泥掺灰比的固化淤泥土经过T_后,其强度恢复较好;大掺灰比的重塑土其强度则较难恢复至固化土的水平,T_前越长,强度恢复越不利。从而得出了大掺灰比固化土宜早重塑,小掺灰比的重塑时间可适当延长的规律。     

RETRACTED ARTICLE: Study of Factors Affecting the Compressive Strength of Sandy Soil Stabilized with Polymer

Material engineers are continually confronted by depletion of quality construction materials for road and airfield construction. Even if good quality construction materials for road and airfield are available, the haul costs may preclude their use. Stabilization of soils in order to improve strength and durability properties often relies on cement, lime, fly ash, and asphalt emulsion. These materials are inexpensive, relatively easy to apply, and provide benefits to many different soil types. In addition, there are a variety of nontraditional soil stabilization/modification additives available from the commercial sector such as polymer emulsions, acids, lignin derivatives, enzymes, tree resin emulsions, and silicates. These additives may be in liquid or solid state and are often touted to be applicable for most soils. Polymers may be easy to apply in permeable materials such as sand and may achieve good stabilization in relatively shorter periods of time. These polymer materials can be used for stabilizing, soil in road shoulders, slopes, and pads of military and emergency airports. In addition, these types of materials can be used to prevent the movement of the dune sands on the sides of railroads and stabilizing the dust on the surface of access roads. Within the present research, two different polymers of wide range of dosages have been applied. Following results have been achieved: (1) These polymers improve the compressive strength from 0.03 N/mm2 for control sample to 5.2 N/mm2 for improved sample. (2) The optimum curing time of dune sands with different polymers is 7 days. (3) The UC strength of stabilized samples soars with an increase in the temperature, in the first 24 h of the curing process. (4) When the concentration of salt increased from 1 to 10 percent, UC strength of stabilized samples decreased.     

The Effect of Key Parameters on the Strength of a Dispersive Soil Stabilized with Sustainable Binders

Geotechnical and Geological Engineering - Dispersive soils are susceptible to phenomena of internal and external erosion when in contact with relatively pure water due to its particle’s...     

Application of Artificial Intelligence to Maximum Dry Density and Unconfined Compressive Strength of Cement Stabilized Soil

This paper describes two artificial intelligence techniques for prediction of maximum dry density (MDD) and unconfined compressive strength (UCS) of cement stabilized soil. The first technique uses various artificial neural network (ANN) models such as Bayesian regularization method (BRNN), Levenberg- Marquardt algorithm (LMNN) and differential evolution algorithm (DENN). The second technique uses the support vector machine (SVM) that is firmly based on the theory of statistical learning theory, uses regression technique by introducing ε-insensitive loss function has been adopted. The inputs of both models are liquid limit (LL), plasticity index (PI), clay fraction (CF)%, sand (S)%, gravel Gr (%), moisture content (MC) and cement content (Ce). The sensitivity analyses of the input parameters have been also done for both models. Based on different statistical criteria the SVM models are found to be better than ANN models for the prediction of MDD and UCS of cement stabilized soil.     

Osmotic Swelling and Osmotic Consolidation Behaviour of Compacted Expansive Clay

Compacted clay soils are used as barriers in geoenvironmental engineering applications and are likely to be exposed to salinization and desalinization cycles during life of the facility. Changes in pore fluid composition from salinization and desalinization cycles induce osmotic suction gradients between soil–water and reservoir (example, landfill/brine pond) solution. Dissipation of osmotic suction gradients may induce osmotic swelling and consolidation strains. This paper examines the osmotic swelling and consolidation behaviour of compacted clays exposed to salinization and desalinization cycles at consolidation pressure of 200 kPa in oedometer assemblies. During salinization cycle, sodium ions of reservoir fluid replaced the divalent exchangeable cations. The osmotic swelling strain developed during first desalinization cycle was 29-fold higher than matric suction induced swelling strain of the compacted specimen. Further, the diffusion controlled osmotic swelling strain was 100-fold slower than matric suction-driven swelling process. After establishment of ion-exchange equilibrium, saturated saline specimens develop reversible osmotic swelling strains on exposure to desalinization cycles. Likewise the saturated desalinated specimen develops reversible osmotic consolidation strains on exposure to cycles of salinization. Variations in compaction dry density has a bearing on the osmotic swelling and consolidation strains, while, compaction water content had no bearing on the osmotic volumetric strains.     

A Column Experiment to Study the Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical Behaviour of Expansive Soils

The study of heat transfer, water flow, and swelling pressure development in engineered clay barriers and the evaluation of the influence of these phenomena on the barrier properties are important issues for predicting the performance of nuclear waste repository facilities. In this work, an experimental setup is presented especially meant to assess the response of the sand–bentonite mixture under conditions close to that of the buffer in a radioactive waste repository. A newly developed column device for laboratory testing of coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) behaviour of clay-buffer materials is introduced and its calibration, verification and the first experimental data are presented and discussed. The main features of the column device are: hydraulic and thermal gradients are possible to be applied; water content, suction and temperature development can be measured continuously at three locations along the sample height; swelling stress can be measured at top and the bottom of the sample. Measuring transient temperature, water content and suction simultaneously at the same height levels and with special care to minimise the sample disturbance is one of the advantages of the column device proposed here when compared to that previously reported in the literature. The main objectives of this paper are: (1) to describe the experimental device, (2) to introduce the sensors implemented and their calibration, and (3) to present and discuss the first experimental results obtained with the new equipment. The first experimental results show promise in the ability of the newly developed column device to provide reliable data for assessing the THM behaviour of expansive materials that are foreseen as buffer material in high level waste repositories.     

Efficacy of Cement-stabilized Fly Ash Cushion in Arresting Heave of Expansive Soils

Expansive clays swell and shrink seasonally when subjected to changes in the moisture regime causing substantial distress to the structures built in them. Techniques like sand cushion and cohesive non-swelling soil (CNS) layer have been tried to arrest heave and consequent damages to structures. Sand cushion has been proved to be counter-productive. Studies have indicated that even though CNS layer was effective initially, it became less effective after the first cycle of swelling and shrinkage. Research carried out by the authors, using cement-stabilized fly ash as a cushioning material, has shown that it was quite effective in arresting heave. Fly ash cushion, stabilized with 10% cement with thickness equal to that of the expansive soil bed reduces heave by about 75% in the first instance. With subsequent swell-shrink cycles, the performance further improves, unlike in the case of a black cotton soil provided with a CNS cushion. At the end of fourth cycle of swelling, the reduction in the amount of heave is as high as 99.1%.     

掺粉煤灰-石灰对膨胀土胀缩性的影响试验研究

本文探讨利用粉煤灰、石灰-粉煤灰作为添加剂改良合肥膨胀土的可行性与改良效果。试验研究了粉煤灰、石灰-粉煤灰掺合物对膨胀土的胀缩性的影响以及养护作用对改良膨胀土胀缩性的影响。研究结果表明,随着掺灰率的增加,膨胀土的自由膨胀率、膨胀量、膨胀力与线缩率呈减小趋势,这说明掺粉煤灰可有效降低膨胀土的胀缩性。经过一定龄期养护后的击实样的膨胀试验结果表明,随着养护龄期的加长,膨胀土的膨胀量与膨胀力都有一定降低。     

冻融作用对土结构性的影响及其导致的强度变化

冻融作用通过改变土的结构性从而改变土的力学性质.以青藏粉质黏土为研究对象,对一定干密度的饱和重塑试样分别进行封闭和开放状态下的冻融试验.通过土样电阻率的改变来反映冻融作用对土中孔隙的影响;对冻融前后的试样分别进行CT扫描,定量分析土样的损伤程度,来反映土颗粒联结的改变.对冻融前后的土样进行不固结、不排水三轴剪切试验,得到其强度参数,并将冻融作用引起的结构变化与强度参数的变化建立联系.研究表明:对试验中采用的土样,经过冻融作用后电阻率增大,反映到强度参数上,冻融作用导致土的内摩擦角增大;CT扫描定量分析发现,经过冻融之后,密度增大,CT损伤量为负值,反映到强度参数上,冻融后黏聚力增加.因此,强度参数的变化与土颗粒的胶结和重排列,粒径重分配以及孔隙大小比例的变化有关.     

合肥地区膨胀土注浆试验研究

针对合肥地区膨胀土进行劈裂注浆试验 ,分析了注浆及复合土体形成的过程 ;对注浆后形成的复合土体进行三轴固结排水剪试验 ,结果表明经注浆后土体的强度得到显著改善 ,同时 ,复合土体应力应变关系仍符合邓肯模型规律。     

高速公路膨胀土路基改良的试验和分析

对膨胀土路基填料存在问题进行探讨分析。以广东某高速公路为例，对比了膨胀土路基填料改良的试验方法及其效果，提出了掺石灰和粉煤灰等方案的最佳选用建议。试验分析表明，对膨胀土改良的测试和评价不宜采用单一方法，应根据膨胀土的胀缩等级、地方材料及施工工艺等进行综合技术与经济比较，选定最优方案。     

Swelling Behaviour of Expansive Shales from the Middle Region of Saudi Arabia

Severe and widespread damage in residential buildings, sidewalks and pavements in various parts of the middle region of Saudi Arabia is caused by the development of heave and swelling pressure in the expansive shales in the region. This paper presents the problems and the geotechnical and physicochemical properties of the tested shales. The swelling potential was determined using various methods. Swell tests were conducted under different loading conditions and following different procedures to quantify the amount of vertical swell and swelling pressure. The conventional one-dimensional oedometer swell tests were performed using three different procedures, namely, free swell, constant volume swell and swell overburden. In addition, swell tests were performed in the stress path triaxial apparatus. Tests under different vertical stresses and confinements were conducted. Vertical swell and swelling pressure obtained from the various methods were compared. The reliability of the different methods for estimation of swelling potential is discussed.     

膨胀土干缩变形特性试验研究

膨胀土是一种典型的问题性土，对气候变化非常敏感，在干旱气候条件下，极易发生体积收缩变形，引发各种工 程地质问题。为了研究膨胀土的干缩变形特性，开展了一系列室内干燥试验，测定了膨胀土的收缩特征曲线，重点分析 了初始含水率和干密度对干缩变形过程的影响，并进一步探讨了水泥固化抑制膨胀土干缩变形的效果和机理。结果表 明：（1） 膨胀土的干缩变形过程存在三个典型阶段：正常收缩、残余收缩和零收缩；（2） 初始含水率越高，试样蒸发速 率越快，且干缩变形完全后试样孔隙比越小而最终收缩应变越大，干缩变形越明显；（3） 初始干密度越大，试样蒸发速 率和最终体积收缩应变越小，提高初始干密度对试样干缩变形具有一定的抑制作用；（4） 在膨胀土中掺入适量的水泥能 显著降低试样的体积收缩应变，对干缩变形具有良好的抑制效果；（5） 膨胀土的干缩变形具有明显的各向异性特征，并 且与初始状态有关。