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Soil is the basic foundation for any civil engineering structures.It is required to
bear the loads without failure.In some places, soil may be weak which cannot resist
the oncoming loads.In such cases,soil stabilization is needeed.Numerous methods
are available in the literature for soil stabilization.But sometimes,some of the
methods like chemical stabilization,lime stabilization etc. adversly affects the
chemical composition of the soil.
In this study,fly ash and lime were mixed with clay soil to investigate the relative
strength gain in terms of unconfined compression,bearing capacity and
compaction.The effect of fly ash and lime on the geotechnical characteristics of
clay-fly ash and clay-lime mixtures was investigated by conductiung standard
Proctor compaction tests,unconfined compression tests,CBR tests and permeability
test.The tests were performed as per Indian Standard specifications.
The following materials were used for preparing the samples:
The
Clayey soil
Fly ash
Lime
soft clay used for these experiments was brought from a site,near
In this test programme,without additives clay was tested to find the optimum
moisture content ,CBR value ,plasticity index and unconfined compression
strength.Fly ash and lime were added in varying percentages and that fraction for
which maximum strength is obtained was found out.The mixture is cured for 3,7
and 14 days.
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
General
Transport in the Republic of India is an important part of the nation's economy.
Roads are the vital lifelines of the economy making possible trade and commerce.
They are the most preferred modes of transportation and considered as one of the
cost effective modes. An efficient and well-established network of roads is desired
for promoting trade and commerce in any country and also fulfills the needs of a
sound transportation system for sustained economic development. To provide
mobility and accessibility, all weather roads should connect every nook and corner
of the country. To sustain both static and dynamic load, the pavement should be
designed and constructed with utmost care. The performance of the pavement
depends on the quality of materials used in road construction.
Sub grade is the in situ material upon which the pavement structure is placed.
Although there is a tendency to look at pavement performance in terms of
pavement structures and mix design alone, the subgrade soils can often be the
overriding factor in pavement performance. The construction cost of the pavements
will be considerably decreased if locally available low cost materials are used for
construction of lower layer of pavements such as subgrade, sub base etc.If the
stability of local soils is not adequate for supporting the loads, suitable methods to
enhance the properties of soil need to be adopted. Soil stabilization is one such
method. Stabilizing the subgrade with an appropriate chemical stabilizer (such as
distribute loads under saturated conditions). This report contains a summary of the
performance of lime and fly ash used with clay.
Fly ashes are finely divided residue resulting from the combustion of ground or
powdered coal from electric generating plants.
Lime is another additive used, which is locally available, to improve subgrade
characteristics. It is obtained by heating limestone at elevated temperatures.
SCOPE OF THE PROJECT
The soil used in the study is natural clay brought from Kumarakom.Pavement
subgrade over there is composed of clayey soil whose
bearing capacity is
extremely low.Due to this reason ,the roads require periodic maintenance to take up
repeated application of wheel loads.This proves to be costly ,and at the same time,
conditions of raods during monsoon seasons is extremely poor.Therefore, a thought
on how to enhance the stability of roads by chaper means demands appraisal.
Soil stabilization can be done using different additives ,but use of fly ash which is a
waste material from thermal power plants,at the same time difficult-to-dispose
material will be much significant.
CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
General
Stabilization is the process ofblending and mixing materials with a soil to
improve certain properties of the soil. The process may include the blending of
soils to achieve adesired gradation or the mixing of commerciallyavailable
additives that may alter the gradation, texture or plasticity, or act as a binder for
cementationof the soil.
The process of reducing plasticity and improving the texture of a soil is called soil
modification. Monovalent cations such as sodium and potassium are commonly
found in expansive clay soil and these cations can be exchanged with cations of
higher valenciessuch as calcium which are found in lime and flyash. This ion
exchange process takes place almost rapidly, within a few hours. The calcium
cations replace the sodium cations around the clay particles, decreasing the size of
bound water layer, and enable the clay particle to flocculate. The flocculation
creates a reduction in plasticity, an increase in shear strength of clayey soil and
improvement in texture from a cohesive material to a more granular, sand-like soil.
The change in the structure causes a decrease in the moisture sensitivity and
increase the workability and constructability of soil. Soil stabilization includes the
effects from modification with a significant additional strength.
Soil structure
The clay particles in the soil structure are arranged in sheet like structures
composed of silica tetrahedral and alumina octahedra. The sheets form many
different combinations, but there are three main types of formations .the first is
kaolinite,which consists of alternating silica and alumina sheets bonded together.
This form of clay structure is very stable and does not swell appreciably when
wetted .the next form is montmorillonite, which is composed of two layers of silica
and one alumina sheet creating aweak bond between the layers. This weak bonding
between the layers allows water and other cations to enter between the
layers,resulting in swelling in the clay particle. The last type is illite, which is very
similar to montmorillonite ,but has potassium ions between each layer which help
bond the layers together. Inter layer bonding illite is therefore stronger than for
montmorillonite,but weaker than kaolinite.
Clay particles are small in size but have alarge to mass ratio,resulting in alarger
surface area available for interaction with water and cations.the clay particles have
negatively charged surfaces that attract cations and polar molecules,including
water forming a boundwater layer around the negatively charged clay particles.
The amount of water surrounding the clay particles is related to the amount of
water that is available for the clay particle to take in and release. This moisture
change around the clay particles causes expansion and swelling pressures within
clays that are confined .
Uses of stabilization
Pavement design isbased on the premise that minimum specifiedstructural quality
will be achieved for each layerof material in the pavement system. Each layermust
resist shearing, avoid excessive deflectionsthat cause fatigue cracking within the
layer or inoverlying layers, and prevent excessive permanentdeformation through
densification. As the qualityof a soil layer is increased, the ability of that layerto
distribute the load over a greater area isgenerally increased so that a reduction in
therequired thickness of the soil and surface layersmay be permitted.
Quality improvement.
The most common improvementsachieved through stabilization includebetter soil
gradation, reduction of plasticity indexor swelling potential, and increases in
durabilityand strength. In wet weather, stabilizationmay also be used to provide a
working platformfor construction operations. These types of soilquality
improvement are referred to as soil modification.
Thickness reduction.
The strength and stiffnessof a soil layer can be improved through theuse of
additives to permit a reduction in designthickness of the stabilized material
compared withan unstabilized or unbound material.
STABILIZATION TECHNIQUES
Stabitization with portland cement
Portland cement can be used either to modify or improve the quality of the soil into
a cemented mass with increased strength and durability. The amount of cement
used will depend upon whether the soil is to be modified or stabilized.
Cement stabilization is most commonly used for stabilizing silt, sandy soils with
small quantities of silt or clayey fractions stabilization of soil with cement has been
extensively used in road construction. Mixing the pulverized soil and compact the
mix to attain a strong material does this stabilization. The material thus obtained by
mixing soil and cement is known as soil cement. The soil content becomes a hard
and durable structural material as the cement hydrates and develops strength. The
cementing action is believed to be the result of chemical reaction of cement with
the siliceous soil during hydration.
Stabilization with bitumen
Stabilization of soils and aggregates with asphalt differs greatly from cementand
lime stabilization. The basic mechanism involved in asphalt stabilization of fine
grained soils is a water proofing phenomenon. Soil particles soil agglomerates are
coated with asphalt that prevents or slows the penetration of water, which could
normally result in a decrease in soil strength. In addition, asphalt stabilization can
improve durability characteristics by making the soil resistant to the detrimental
effects of water such as volume. In non-cohesive material such as sand and gravel,
crushed gravel, and crushed stone, two basic mechanisms are active: water
proofing and adhesion. The asphalt coating on the cohesion less materials provides
a membrane, which prevents or hinders the penetration of water and thereby
reduces the tendency of the material to lose strength in the presence of water. The
second mechanism has been identified as adhesion. The aggregate particle adheres
to the asphalt and the asphalt acts as a binder or cement. The cementing effect thus
increases the shear strength by increasing adhesion. Criteria for design of
bituminous stabilized soils and aggregates are based almost entirely on stability
and gradation requirements. Freeze-thaw and wet durability test are not applicable
for asphalt-stabilized mixtures.
Lime can be used as an initial additive with asphalt as the primary stabilizer. The
main purpose of lime is to improve workability characteristics and to act as an antistripping agent. In the latter capacity, the lime acts to neutralize acidic chemicals in
the soil or aggregate, which tend to interfere with bonding of the asphalt.
Generally, about 1-2 percent lime is all that is needed for this objective.
Stabilazation by geo-textiles and fabrics
Introducing geo-textiles and fabrics that are made of synthetic materials, such as
polyethylene, polyester, and nylon, can stabilize the soil. The geo-textile sheets are
manufactured in different thickness ranging from 10 to 300 mils (1mil=0.254mm).
The width of sheet can be upto 10m. These are available in rolls of length upto
about 600m.
Geotextiles are permeable. Their permeability is compared to that of fine sand to
course sand and they are strong and durable.
The two primary types of lime used in construction today are quick lime(calcium
oxide) and hydrated lime (calcium hydroxide).Heating limestone at elevated
temperatures produce quick lime and addition of water to quick lime produces
hydrated lime.
Equation shows the reaction that occurs when limestone is heated to produce quick
lime with carbon dioxide produced as by-product.
CaCO3+heat
CaO+CO2
Addition of water to quick lime produces hydrated lime along with heat as
byproduct:
CaO+H2O
Ca (OH)2+Heat
cemented structure that increases the strength of the stabilized soil. Residual
calcium must remain in the system to combine with the available silica or alumina
to keep the pH high enough to maintain the pozzolanic reaction. Soil that should be
considered for lime treatment include soils with a PI that exceeds 10 and have
more than 25 percent passing the #200 sieve.
In lime stabilization the liquid limit of soil generally decreases but the plastic limit
increases. Thus the plasticity index of the soil decreases. The strength of the lime
stabilized soil is generally improved. It is partly due to the decrease in the plastic
properties of the soil and partly due to the formation of cementing material.
Increase in the unconfined compressive strength is as high as 60 times. The
modulus of elasticity of the soil also increases substantially.
Addition of lime causes a high concentration of calcium ions in double layer. It
causes a decrease in the tendency of attraction of water. Consequently, the
resistance of soil to water absorption, capillary rise and volume changes on wetting
or drying is substantially increased. The lime-stabilized bases or sub bases form a
water resistant barrier which stops penetration of rain water. There is an increase in
optimum water content and a reduction in maximum density. In swampy areas
where the water content is above the optimum, application of lime to soilhelps in
drying of soil.
Cyclic freezing and thawing can causes a temporary loss of strength, but because
of subsequent healing action, there is no loss of strength in long run.
Construction methods used in lime stabilization are similar to those used in cement
stabilization. However , the following points are to be noted.
The hydration property depends on coal source, boiler design and the type of ash
collection system.The coal source governs the amount and type of organic matter
present in it. Eastern coal source contain small amount of calcium. This class F
flyash does not exhibitself-cementing characteristics. Western coals contain higher
amount of calcium (about 20%-35%) and are classified as class C flyash.
The amount of calcium oxide in flyash is lower than that of lime and much of it is
combined with silicates and aluminates, so flyash has less effect on plasticity than
lime.
Boiler design and operation depends on the rate at which the hydration occurs.
During combustion the inorganic matter is fused consequently rapid cooling of
fused particles occur. So the flyash particles are non crystalline in nature.
Compaction time after mixing is critical to achieve maximum density and strength.
When compaction is delayed hydration products begin to bond with loose particles
and disruption of these aggregation is required to densify the material. So a portion
of compactive energy isutilized in overcoming cementation and maximum
densities are reduced.
In fly ash the high loss on ignition is due to the presence of unburnt carbon. The
combined amount of silica alumina and iron oxide (84.6%) indicate its suitability
as a pozzolanicmaterial.fly ash is no-plastic in nature.its moisture condition does
not predominantly affect the dry density. The fly ash has high angle of internal
friction.
The grain size distribution of is shown if fig 2. Fly ash is a fine grained material
.about 86% of the sample passes through 75 micron sieve indicating that fly ash is
essentially a silt size material.
CHAPTER 3
EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAMME
INTRODUCTION
In this chapter, a brief review of various experiments conducted using clay and the
same stabilized with lime and flyash are explained.
MATERIALS USED
1. Clayey soil
Sl No:
1
2
3
4
5
6
Properties
CBR value
Max.dry density
Optimum moisture
content
Liquid limit
Plastic limit
Plasticity index
Values
4.3%
1517 kg/m3
20%
36%
26%
10
0.01
0
0.1
2.Additives
Theadditives used for stabilization and modification include lime and flyash.
The soils weremixed with each of these additives for which there were
Physical properties
Specific gravity
Loss on ignition
2.27
11.8%
Chemical composition
Silica (SiO2)
Alumina (Al2O3)+Iron oxide (Fe2O3)
Calcium oxide (CaO)
Magnesium oxide (MgO)
58.3%
26.3%
2.2%
0.3%
LAB TESTING
The various tests conducted on the sample are the following:
1.Atterberg limits
2. Specific gravity
3. Direct shear test
4. Proctor compaction test
5. CBR test
6. Unconfined compression test(UCS)
Firstly the above tests were conducted on plane clay sample to determine its
properties.UCS test is conducted to evaluate it strength. Thereafter, certain
percentages of lime and flyash are added to the clay sample to stabilize it. And the
percentages of the above additives which produce the optimum strength to the soil
are chosen by conducting UCS test on them.
Soil preparation
The soil was collected from site in large sacks. It is brought to the lab and is dried
in oven for 24 hours in large pans. This soil due to loss of water formed big lumps
which is broken to smaller pieces or even fine powder and is sieved according to
the needs of different experiments.
Compaction test
Compaction is the densification of soil by reduction of air voids. The purpose of a
laboratory compaction test is to determine, the quantity of water to be added for
field compaction of soil and resultant density expected. When water is added to
dry fine grained soil, the soil absorbs water. Addition of more water helps in
sliding of particles over each other. This assists the process of compaction. Up to a
certain point, additional water helps in reduction of air voids,but after a relatively
high degree of saturation is reached, the water occupies the space ,which could be
filled with soil particles, and the amount of entrapped air remains essentially
constant.Therfore,there is an optimum amount of water for a given soil and
compaction process, which give rise to maximum dry density.
Compaction of clay,clay-lime and clay-flyash mixtures were carried out
using standard proctor test with three layers on each 25 blows. Samples for
conducting compaction tests were prepared using moulds of dimensions 10 cm
diameter and 15 cm height. In this study, lime is added for about 10% and cured
for 3, 7, and 14 days. Also,flyash is added for about 14% and is cured for 3,7 and
14 days. The values of optimum moisture content and maximum dry density are
obtained in a plot of dry density versus moisture content.
2.5
5.0
7.5
10
12.5
1370
2055
2630
3180
3600
70
105
134
162
183
of normal soils is between 2.65 to 2.80. Specific gravity of soil mass indicates the
average value of all the solid particles present in the soil mass. Also it is an
important parameter used for the determination of void ratio and particle size.
Consistency limits
The consistency of fine grained soil is the physical state in which it exists. It is
used to denote the degree of firmness of soil. The water content at which soil
changes from one state to another is known as consistency limits.
A soil containing high water is in the liquid state. It has no shear resistance
and can flow like liquid. Therefore the shear strength is equal to zero. As the water
content is reduced, the soil becomes stiffer and starts developing resistance to shear
deformation. The water content at which soil changes from liquid state to plastic
state is known as liquid limit. The liquid limit is find out by Casagrandes liquid
limit device. The number of blows of this device is find out at different water
content. Flow curve is plot with number of blows on x axis and water content on y
axis. The water content corresponding to 25 blows is the liquid limit.
Plastic limit is the water content below which the soil stop behaving as a plastic
material. It begins to crumble when rolled into a thread of soil of 3mm diameter. At
this water content , the soil loses its plasticity and passes to the semi-solid state.
The shear strength at the plastic limit ,is about 100 times that at the liquid limit.
CHAPTER 4
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
The following chapter covers the results of the testing programmes. The
results that are presented include soil properties admixture percentages and the
various testing results for the soil additive combinations .
Native soil properties and admixture percentages
Soil chacterstics were determined using atterberg limits ,hydrometer
analysis, specific gravity, standard proctor compaction and unconfined
compression tests. The test results is shown the table
Sl No:
1
2
3
Properties
CBR value
Max.dry density
Optimum moisture
Values
4.3%
1517 kg/m3
20%
4
5
6
content
Liquid limit
Plastic limit
Plasticity index
36%
26%
10
The grain size dirtribution curve for the soil used is shown in figure.
0.01
0
0.1
The percentage of lime and fly ash for stabilization is determined from the
unconfined compression test. The test results are shown.
2250
1950
1950
1800
native soil
lime 5%
lime 10%
flyash 14%
400
The native soil has an unconfined compression of 400kpa. This increased by the
addition of lime and fly ash. The maximum strength is obtained by the addition of
10% lime and 14% fly ash.
Atterberg limits
The atterberg limit test results with various soil additive combination at different
curing period are presented in the table and graphs showing variation of atterberg
limits with curing period is plotted for different soil-additive combination.
Curing period
Native soil
Lime:3 days
7 days
14 days
Flyash:3 days
7 days
14 days
Liquid limit
36
25
23
22
35
35
35
Plastic limit
26
15
18
20
19
23
26
Plasticity index
10
10
10
5
16
12
9
30
25
20
15
liquid limit
plastic limit
plastcity index
10
0
2
10
12
14
16
40
35
30
25
20
liquid limit
plastic limit
plasticity index
15
10
5
0
2
10
12
14
16
The native liquid limit and plasticity index of the soil were 36 and 10. The PI
values were reduced when they are mixed with small amout of lime and became
nonplastic with the addition of more lime.For clay-lime mixture, the 3 day liquid
limit is 25, it reducese to 23 for 7days and it becomes 22 at 14days. The plastic
limit is increases from 15 at 3day to 20 at 14 days.As the liquid limit decreases and
plastic limit increases the plasticity index decreases from 10 to 5 with curing
period.
For fly ash had more limited effect on the plasticity ofthese soils.The liquid limit
remains constant with curing period for the fly ash-clay mixture.The plastic limit
increases from 19 at 3day to 26 at 14days, as a liquid limit remains constant and
plastic limit increases, the plasticity index values decreases from 16 at 3days to 9 at
14 days.
Water content
Dry density
18
1490
20
1517
22
1467
24
1427
3 days curing
Water
Dry density
content
7 days curing
Water
Dry density
content
14 days curing
Water
Dry density
content
17.1
1370
14.8
1260
13.3
900
17.6
1420
15.3
1300
14
1130
18.9
1490
16
1350
14.9
1000
20.1
1380
17.2
1310
15.6
870
20.5
1360
18
1250
15.9
900
2500
2000
1500
native soil
flyash 3days
flyash 7days
flyash14days
1000
ZAV
500
0
0
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
3 days curing
Water
Dry density
content
7 days curing
Water
Dry density
content
14 days curing
Water
Dry density
content
22
450
24
390
24
150
23
590
25
410
26
200
24
645
26
445
28
235
25
555
27
390
30
200
26
490
28
300
32
159
2500
2000
1500
native soil
lime 3 days
lime 7 days
lime 14 days
1000
ZAV
500
0
0
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
The maximum density and optimum moisture content for the native soil are
1517 kg/m3 and 20%. When mixed with fly ash the optimum moisture content
and the maximum density is decreased.The maximum density is 1490 kg/m 3 at an
optimum moisture content of 18.9 % at 3 days.It is reduces to 1000kg/m 3 at an
optimum content of 14.9% in 14 days. So both the maximum density and
optimum moisture content decreases for fly ash-clay mixture.
When mixed with lime, the optimim moisture content is increased and the
maximum dry density is decreased.The maximum density is 645 kg/m at an
optimum moisture content of 24% in 3 days.In 7days the maximum density is
445 kg/m3 at an optimum moisture content of 26%.The maximum density is
decreased to 235 kg/m3 and optimum moisture content increased to 28%.
Normal
stress
(kg/cm2)
Native soil
0.5
1
1.5
Lime:
0.5
1
1.5
Fly ash:
0.5
1
1.5
3
days
curing
Shear
stress
(kg/cm2)
7
days
curing
Shear
stress
(kg/cm2)
14 days curing
Shear stress (kg/cm2)
0.497
0.789
0.99
0.569
.897
1.2
.72
1.074
1.33
0.99
1.24
1.45
0.569
0.91
1.07
0.581
0.998
1.264
0.695
1.01
1.314
1.4
1.2
1
3 days curing
0.8
7 days curing
0.6
14 days curing
Native soil
0.4
0.2
0
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.2
1.4
1.6
1.6
1.4
1.2
1
0.8
3 days curing
7 days curing
14 days curing
Native soil
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.2
1.4
1.6
The direct shear stresses of native soil for normal stress 0.5 kg/cm 2 is
0.497kg/cm2.When mixed with fly ash the direct shear stress increases to 0.569 for
3days curing, 0.581 for 7days curing and 0.695 kg/cm2 for 14days curing.
When mixed with lime, the direct shear stress increases to 0.569 for 3days
curing, 0.72 for 7days curing and 0.99kg/cm2 for 14 days curing.
Penetration (mm)
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
4
5
7.5
10
12.5
Load (kg)
0
3.39
8.48
21.2
38.16
59.36
69.536
82.256
86.496
107.696
117.872
124.656
3 days curing
7 days curing
14 days curing
4.01
5.55
7.93
9.35
13.86
25.99
22.54
25.99
33.92
40.98
53.01
63.98
62.77
71.85
84.82
76.89
90.92
97.92
4
5
7.5
10
12.5
89.99
97.96
117.84
95.99
104
122.95
115.98
129.03
153.97
126.73
141.93
164.78
132.89
152.94
185.72
3 days curing
7 days curing
14 days curing
native soil
100
80
60
40
20
0
0
10
12
14
3 days curing
7 days curing
14 days curing
4.24
6.98
9.36
10.35
15.65
21.28
25.88
28.99
34.76
46.92
54.74
65.96
73.689
79.05
87.99
89.82
95.77
100.01
95
99.95
119.76
97.51
109.59
124.82
125.62
134.98
154.87
131.06
149.65
170.21
140.69
156.32
190.97
250
200
150
3 days curing
7 days curing
14 days curing
100
native soil
50
0
0
10
12
CHAPTER 5
CONCLUSION
14