Recent Trends in Stabilization of Expansive Soil using Calcined Clay

Expansive soils have the tendency to more swelling, shrinking and compressibility by variation in soil-water interaction affecting the alteration in the bearing capacity of soil. There are several methods used to stabilize the soils and promote sustainable development in the construction industry. In this, soil stabilization is prime and efficient techniques to improve the strength by altering the physical characteristics of the soil. In addition, admixtures improved the chemical characteristics of soil and also attained stability by improving the bonding between the soil structures. Soil stabilization has been experimented by many researchers and successfully used in several field applications especially using cement, lime, ashes, chemicals etc. An alternative to these options mentioned is using natural cementitious material such as calcined clay as an admixture. This work focuses on the effect, the development of the strength properties of treated soils with varying percentages of calcined clay as ۲%, ۴%, ۶%, ۸% and ۱۰% under varying curing times. The enhanced strength behaviours of the expansive soil were determined by performing the unconfined compression test and also the microstructural studies like SEM and XRD for the selected samples. The results indicate that the maximum strength was attained on ۸% admixture treated soil. Thus calcined clay acts as a natural cost-effective and eco-friendly stabilizer in place of replacement of cement to stabilize expansive soil which develops the strength characteristics of the expansive soil and also reduces environmental pollution.

Keywords:

Soil stabilization , expansive soil , Calcined clay , Unconfined Compressive Test , X-ray diffraction analysis , Scanning Electron Microscope