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CHAPTER-I
INTRODUCTION
1.1 GENERAL:
Much has been learnt of soil contamination problems from the Love Canal and
famed Woburn (from which a book and Hollywood film „A Civil Action‟ is based on)
incidents in the USA. They depicted serious health related matters when people lived
on or near contaminated sites. Similarly a court case in Malaysia, i.e. Woon Tan Kan
&7YL vs. Asian Rare Earth Materials Sdn Bhd (Buang 1993) served to notice that
problems and civic awareness are gaining ground in this part of the world. In another
legal battle, the authors were involved in a court case whereby a company sued
another which was located upstream in an industrial estate. The plaintiff submitted to
the court that waste water flowing out of the premise of the defendant had infiltrated
their ground causing significant reduction in the carrying capacity of the piles of their
building structure. They claimed that as a result, the building suffered from serious
cracking throughout its entire structure. This case warrants the services of engineers
particularly those specialised in soils and its interaction and fate with chemicals/waste
for both plaintiff and the defendant. Thus engineers need to be knowledgeable and
updated in this matter to better serve the public in an informed and professional
manner.
Other than humans, other forms of life such as animals and plants are also
affected from soil contamination. Plants can suck up contaminants, then in turn being
eaten by goats and cows and contamination may easily move further up the food
chain, again endangering human health. In addition, structures such as concrete and
steel can deteriorate when attacked by chemicals reducing its structural carrying
capacity. These construction materials are of interest to geotechnical engineers as
these are the main materials forming he structures of foundations, i.e. piles, pad and
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mat foundation, pile caps etc. Soils could also lose its cohesion when exposed to
many organics resulting in loss of adhesion and strength so much relied on for
stability.
On the other hand in many situations, soils in natural state do not present
adequate geotechnical properties to be used as road service layers, foundation layers
and as a construction material. In order to adjust their geotechnical parameters to meet
the requirements of technical specifications of construction industry, studying soil
stabilization is more emphasized.
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There are basically two types of priority pollutants, i.e. organic compounds
and inorganic species(mainly metallic elements). All of these materials are either
toxic/mutagenic(causing slow or immediate death, for example by stopping oxygen
intake such as cyanide),carcinogenic(causing cancer, such as benzene and DDT) or
both. The organics include volatiles, base neutral extractable, acid extractable, and
pesticides (Domenico &Schwartz 1990).Examples of inorganic include arsenic,
asbestos, chromium, copper, cyanide, lead, mercury, nickel, silver, zinc, etc.
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The geometrical arrangement of the soil particles with respect to each other is
known as soil structure.
Flocculated structures
Dispersed structures
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landfills and chemical spillages. In this investigation sulphuric acid and sodium
hydroxide with 1Molarity is used.
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CHAPTER-II
LITERATURE REVIEW
Unexpected losses and infiltration of chemical reagents (acids, alkalis) into the
ground may lead to deformations of foundations. These chemical reagents get
released into soil from various industries. Acids, particularly sulphuric acid gets
released from many industries such as copper leaching, inorganic pigment production,
petroleum refining, paper production and industrial organic chemical production. In a
similar way, hydroxides, particularly sodium hydroxide is released into the soil from
various industries such as paint and dye industries, paper and pulp industries, cotton
mills and aluminium industries.
Kabanov (1977) highlighted that relative swelling depends on the type of soil,
concentration of the alkali solution and duration of the interaction. Further, the swell
process of clayey soils interacting with alkali solutions may be divided into three
periods. In the first period, the swell may be due to accumulation of osmotic and
adsorbed moisture in the soils. In the second period, which is characterized by relative
stabilization of soil, it may be due to chemical reaction between the clay fraction and
the alkali. In the third period, the swell may be due to rate of formation of new
compounds.
Imai et al. (2006) studied the clay from the Osaka Bay leached with hydrogen
chloride and showed that acidic solutions solved the calcium carbonate, and
subsequently, destroyed carbonatic bonds between clay particle. Besides, Gratchev
and Towhata (2016) indicated that LL and plasticity index (PI) of soils did indeed
increase at low pH, due to dissolution of calcium carbonates in acidic fluids. In Table
no. 1, some recent studies are shown and compared. The above-mentioned studies
show that the effect of pH on soil engineering properties could be variable, depending
on the complexity of mineral composition of natural soils and the chemical
composition of pore solution. This means that studying the mechanical behavior of
soils (especially natural soils) contaminated with acids and alkalines is very complex.
Owing to pH alterations of the surface and ground water resources in recent years,
detailed and quantitative investigations of mechanical behavior of contaminated
natural soils seem to be necessary. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to
evaluate the influence of pore water pH on the shear strength and Atterberg
consistency limits of a natural clay soil.
Mulyukov (2008) his investigation concluded that even 0.1N alkali solution
can promote activation of swelling in soils and any accidental spillage of alkali, when
it enters the underground sections of buildings, may lead to failure of the underground
technogenic sphere.
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CHAPTER-III
3.1 SCOPE:
3.2 OBJECTIVE:
i. Analyse the variations in the geotechnical properties of black cotton soils
under the presence of different pore fluids.
ii. To check the unconfined compression strength and cohesion for various
samples.
iii. To determine compression and swelling index for various samples.
iv. To laboratory studies to understand the long-term influence of strong
pollutants (acids and alkalis) on the swell behavior of natural soils were
seldom carried out.
v. To study was to evaluate the influence of pore water pH on the shear
strength and Atterberg consistency limits of a natural black cotton soil.
vi. To investigate the pore fluids (5%, 10%, 15%, and 20%) are added
individually to the expansive soil.
vii. The above percentages are obtained by dissolving the pore fluid in tap
water and mixed to the soil samples at different percentages in terms of the
dry weight of the soil.
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viii. To study swelling processes in soil because of acid and alkali solutions
and the development of control measures, investigation of swell
phenomenon needs to be carried out.
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CHAPTER-IV
4.1 MATERIALS:
4.1.1. SOIL:
The soil used for this investigation is obtained from from Tiruchanur
region located in the Tirupathi Town, Chittoor District, India. The dried and pulverized
material passing through I.S.4.75 mm sieve is taken for the study. The properties of the
soil are given in Table No.1. The soil is classified as “CH” as per I.S. Classification (IS
1498:1970) indicating that it is clayey sand. It is highly expansive in nature as the
Differential Free Swell Index (DFSI) is about 150%.
4.1.2 PORE FLUIDS:
About 80% of the surface of the earth are covered by oceans; therefore, a large
number of structures are exposed to sea water with high salinity either directly, or
indirectly when winds carries sea water spray up to a few miles inland from the coast.
As a result, several coastal and offshore sea structures are exposed to the continuous
action of physical and chemical deterioration processes.
4.2 METHODS:
distilled water. The Proctor compaction test was done to determine optimum water
content and maximum dry bulk density.
Particle size distribution test were done to determine the particle size
distribution of soil as per IS: 2720 (Part 4) – 1985. Atterberg limit test such as liquid
limit test and plastic limit test were performed on soil samples according to IS: 2720
(Part 5) – 1985. Standard Proctor compaction test were performed for determining
OMC and Maximum dry density of soil samples before and after stabilization with
fly ash by applying IS 2720 (Part 7) 1980. The consolidation test was carried out as
per IS 2720 (Part 15) – 1965 in the contaminated samples to find out compression
index. Sample is filled in the mould at its maximum dry density and optimum
moisture content. Before conducting the test, the sample is soaked in acid and base
solution for 7 days. Along with these test swell index test as per IS 2720 (Part 40)
1970, pH test as per IS 2720 (Part 26) 1987 and UCC test as per IS 2720 (Part 10)
1991 were done for soil samples with H2SO4 and NaOH.
Property Value
Clay (%) 60
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In this study, distilled water along with solutions of sodium hydroxide (NaOH)
and sulphuric acid (H2SO4) of variable concentrations were used as pore fluid.
Sodium hydroxide solution of known concentrations (1N, 4N and 8N) was prepared
by dissolving required molecular weights (40g, 160g & 320g respectively) of
analytical grade sodium hydroxide pellets in distilled water to make 1 liter of solution.
Similarly, commercially available sulphuric acid by required volume (27.25ml,
108.69 and 217.98 ml, respectively) was diluted with distilled water to make one liter
of solution of desired concentrations (1N, 4N and 8N, respectively).
Atterberg consistency limits were measured on the specimens that had been
exposed to different acidic and alkaline pH values of 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, and 11 and
distilled water with pH of 6.5 (as control sample) for 90 days. Then, the specimens
were dried, pulverized, and passed through a 425-μm sieve to ensure the homogeneity
of the specimens. Liquid limit (LL) and plastic limit (PL) were determined according
to ASTMD4318 (ASTM2010) with six replicates, and the average values were
considered.
If the soil contains a substantial quantity (say more than 5%) of fine
particles, a wet sieve analysis is required. All lumps are broken into individual
particles. Take 200gm of oven dried soil sample and soaked with water. If
deflocculation is required, 2% calgon solution is used instead of water. The sample is
stirred and left for soaking period of at least 1 hour. The slurry is then sieved through
4.75 mm sieve and washed with a jet of water. The material retained on the sieve is
the gravel fraction, which should be dried in oven and weighed. The material passing
through 4.75 mm sieve is sieved through 75 micron sieve.
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The material is washed until the water filtered becomes clear. The soil retained
on 75 micron sieve is collected and dried in oven. It is then sieved through the sieve
shaker for ten minutes and retained material on each sieve is collected and weighed.
The material that would have been retained on pan is equal to the total mass of soil
minus the sum of the masses of material retained on all sieves. Draw the curve for the
soil in the semi-logarithmic graph in order to obtain grain size distribution curve.
For the studying the plasticity characteristics, Liquid Limit and plastic
Limit tests have been carried out for the soil under treated and untreated conditions.
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to a maximum depth of 10 mm. A groove is cut through the sample along the
symmetrical axis of the cup, preferably in one stoke, using a standard grooving tool.
After the soil pat has been cut by a proper grooving tool, the handle is turned
at a rate of 2 revolutions per second until the two parts of the soil sample come into
contact at the bottom of the groove along a distance of 12mm .About 15g of soil near
the closed groove is taken for water content determination. The liquid limit is the
water content at which the soil is sufficient fluid to flow when the device is given 25
blows. As it is difficult to get exactly 25 blows for the sample to flow ,the test is
conducted at different water contents so as to get blows in the range of 10 to 40.The
soil in the cup is transferred to the dish containing the soil paste and mixed thoroughly
after adding more water. The soil sample is again taken in the cup of the liquid limit
device and the test is repeated.
In this test that water content of soil is derived at which soil changes its
state from plastic state to Semi-solid state About 30g of soil, passing through 425-μ
I.S. Sieve, is taken in an evaporating dish. It is mixed thoroughly with water till it
becomes plastic, and can be easily moulded with fingers. About 10g of the plastic soil
mass is taken in one hand and a ball is formed.
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The ball is rolled with fingers on a glass plate to form a soil thread of
uniform diameter. The rate of rolling is kept about 80 to 90 strokes per minute. If the
diameter of the thread becomes approximately 3mm and if it starts just crumbling that
water content is known as the plastic limit.
Plasticity index is the range of water content over which the soil
remains in the plastic state. It is equal to the numerical difference between the liquid
limit and the plastic limit.
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Standard Proctor‟s compaction tests have been conducted on the soil. The soil
sample so prepared is then mixed with effluent of varying percentages. The pore fluid
percentage by weight varied from 0 to 25% in increment of 5% for the determination
of optimum pore fluid content and maximum dry unit weight.
The soil sample maintained at the desired pore fluid content is mixed
thoroughly with pore fluids and compacted in Proctor‟s mould (100mm dia. X 117
mm height). The soil is compacted in three layers giving 25 blows to each layer by
using the standard rammer. The weight of compacted soil along with the mould and
base plate is taken. Prior to that the weight of the empty mould along with base plate
is determined.
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CHAPTER-V
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