A Study of the Effect of Addition of Nano SiO2 and Polyamide Fiber toward Swelling Potential Expansive Clay

Abstract

Expansive clay with great swelling potential requires improvement or stabilization of the soil. It can be successfully done by mechanical and chemical stabilization techniques. This study aims to determine the effect of adding Polyamide (PA) fibre as the material for mechanical stabilization and nano SiO2 as the material for chemical stabilization. The expansive clay used in this study deployed a sample of clay containing mineral montmorillonite with the USCS classification in the high plasticity (CH) category. The mixed materials used include PA fibre with variations of 0.5%, 0.75% and 1% by weight of dry soil and nano SiO2 with variations of 1%, 2% and 3% by dry soil weight. To prove the effectiveness of using nano SiO2, this study compares the treatment with the use of micro SiO2 materials under the same comparison variations. This result indicates that the expansive clay that has been stabilized using PA fibre and nano SiO2 is capable of preventing the swelling potential.