Strength, Hydraulic, and Microstructural Characteristics of Expansive Soils Incorporating Marble Dust and Rice Husk Ash

Abstract

Expansive/swell-shrink soils exhibit high plasticity and low strength, which lead to settlement and instability of lightly loaded structures. These problematic soils contain various swelling clay minerals that are unsuitable for engineering requirements. In an attempt to counter the treacherous damage of such soils in modern geotechnical engineering, efforts are underway to utilize environmentally friendly and sustainable waste materials as stabilizers. This study evaluates the strength and consolidation characteristics of expansive soils treated with marble dust (MD) and rice husk ash (RHA) through a multitude of laboratory tests, including consistency limits, compaction, uniaxial compression strength (UCS), and consolidation tests. By using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analyses, the effect of curing on UCS after 3, 7, 14, 28, 56, and 112 days was studied from the standpoint of microstructural changes. Also, the long-term strength development of treated soils was analyzed in terms of the interactive response of impacting factors with the assistance of a series of ANN-based sensitivity analyses. It is found from the results that the addition of MD and RHA lowered down the water holding capacity, thereby causing a reduction in soil plasticity (by 21% for MD and 14.5% for RHA) and optimum water content (by 2% for MD and increased by 6% for RHA) along with an increase in the UCS (for 8% MD from 97 kPa to 471 kPa and for 10% RHA from 211 kPa to 665 kPa, after 3 days and 112 days of curing, respectively). Moreover, from the oedometer test results, m v initially increased up to 6% dosage and then dropped with further increase in the preconsolidation pressure. Furthermore, the compression index dropped with an increase in the preconsolidation pressure and addition of MD/RHA, while the coefficient of permeability (k) of RHA stabilized soil was higher than that of MD-treated samples for almost all dosage levels. The formation of the fibrous cementitious compounds (C-S-H; C-A-H) increased at optimum additive dosage after 7 days and at higher curing periods. Hence, the use of 10% RHA and 12% MD as replacement of the expansive soil is recommended for higher efficacy. This research would be helpful in reducing the impacts created by the disposal of both expansive soil and industrial and agricultural waste materials.

The Influence of Marble Waste Powder on Clay Soil Stabilization

“…The pattern of decreasing the plasticity index value was similar to the "marble dust on black cotton soil" study [22]- [24]. The value of the Plasticity Index continues to decrease due to cation exchange which causes flocculation in the clay soil, which reduces the thickness of the clay particle layer [25]. The increase in MWP content would lead to higher ion exchanges [26] The compaction test results are obtained from the compaction graph, namely the relationship between dry density and water content, which forms a parabolic curve.…”

Does Current Knowledge Give a Variety of Possibilities for the Stabilization/Solidification of Soil Contaminated with Heavy Metals?—A Review

“…The geomechanical properties of a S/S product are mainly represented by unconfined compressive strength, and the test used and performed on mixture samples is the uniaxial compression strength test (UCS), which can be conducted according to ASTM [ 193 ]. It is conducted as a standard for both soil stabilization [ 194 ] and the S/S process. In almost all sources analyzed, the strength is tested after 28 days of treatment, often also after 7 and/or 90 days; the testing of 1-, 3- or 160-day samples is rare.…”

Role of extreme vertex design approach on the mechanical and morphological behaviour of residual soil composite

“…It is important to note that the amendment of soil with non-conventional ameliorants which are sustainable and economical, has proved to be very successful due to their ability to perform anticipated outcomes in the geotechnical parameters of soft clay soil compared to conventional ameliorants. Thus, the emerging advances in construction materials have proved that diverse ameliorants rich in alumina and silica such as sawdust ash—quarry dust 5 , cement kiln dust—rice husk ash 6 , cement kiln dust—metakaolin 7 , 8 , cement kiln dust 9 , periwinkle shell ash 10 , oyster shell ash 11 , 12 , quarry dust 13 , marble dust—rice husk ash 14 , coconut husk ash 15 , corncob ash 16 , locust bean waste ash 17 , 18 , groundnut shell ash 19 – 21 , lime-rice husk ash 22 , bambara nut shell ash 23 , yam peel ash 24 , metakaolin 25 , mine tailings 26 , palm bunch ash 27 , cement kiln dust-periwinkle shell ash 28 , 29 , cow bone ash—waste glass powder 30 , sawdust ash—lime 31 , rice husk ash—sisal fibre 32 , coffee husk ash 33 , construction waste 34 , sawdust 35 , nanosilica 36 , electric arc furnace dust 37 , iron ore tailing 38 and so on have been utilised in the amendment studies of deficient soils and concrete structures. Conclusively, as a result of the positive outcomes recorded by the incorporation of solid wastes in soil amelioration studies, a comprehensive review was carried out on the trends in expansive soil stabilization using calcium-based stabilizer materials 39 .…”