The effects of cement and natural zeolite additives on problematic clay soils

Abstract

Dispersive and expansive soils are considered problematic, and these soil properties cause serious problems for many engineering structures. For many years, comprehensive studies have been carried out with the aim of improving the swelling and dispersive qualities of soils by using additives. Each feature in the literature associated with the improvement of the dispersive and swell properties of clay soil with additives was separately evaluated. In this study, the effect of cement and natural zeolite additives on the characteristics of dispersibility and swelling potential of clay soils were investigated. A fixed percentage of cement (3%) plus different percentages of natural zeolite (1%, 3%, 6%, 10%, 15%, and 20%) were mixed with four different clay soil samples. In this context, first, the physical and chemical properties of the soil samples were determined. Next, the swell percentage, swell pressure, crumb, pinhole and unconfined compressive strength tests at different curing times were performed on samples with and without the additive by compressing the sample to achieve particular compaction characteristics. Significant strength value increases depended on curing time, and the properties were improved with the mixture of cement and zeolite additives, depending on the sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) and exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP) values of clay soil samples with different plasticity characteristics that exhibit dispersive and swell properties. This study not only showed that a mixture of cement and zeolite additives improved the dispersive and swell properties of clay soil samples with four different plasticity characteristics, depending on their SAR and ESP values, but also significant increases in strength values were observed.

Stability Performance of the Mixture of Bentonite and Zeolite as Landfill Liner

“…These results generate the cohesion value (C) of 21.45 and the friction angle (Ø) of 13.2 o . This result is consistent with previous study by [12] who stated that zeolite may enhance soil stability. The result of direct shear testing of sample S10 is illustrated in Figure 3.…”

“…This S10 mixture produces shear stress (C) of 22.45 and friction angle (Ø) of 16.1o. The stabilization of bentonite by addition of zeolite seems to improve the shear stress of the mixture [12]. Fig.…”

“…Zeolite is a soil stabilization material used to improve soil conditions or unstable soil material or soft soil [11]. The addition of zeolite aims to increase density, the bond between particles in the soil, carrying capacity, compressive strength and shear strength of soil material to support the construction on top of it [12]. However, another factor that should be taken into account while focusing on shear strength improvement of liner material is the permeability of the mixtures.…”

Time-dependent physicochemical characteristics of Malaysian residual soil stabilized with magnesium chloride solution

“…Therefore, proper knowledge on soil additive reactions is an essential part of this technique. Traditional stabilizers such as cement, lime, fly ash and bituminous products have been intensely researched, and their fundamental stabilization mechanisms have been identified (Obuzor et al 2012;Eisazadeh et al 2012;Turkoz and Vural, 2013;Kassim and Kok 2004). Also, many studies have been done on traditionally stabilized laterite soil, which forms a large part of Malaysia's soil, and the relevant mechanisms are well understood (Eisazadeh et al 2011).…”

Feasibility of Calcium Chloride Dehydrate as Stabilizing Agent for Expansive Soil

“…Most of the literature studies carried out all over the world had concentrated on the use of lime and cement [6,7] and on the use a blend of lime and cement [8,9]. Moreover, they found that cement's effect dominant on the strength of soil at all time.…”