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

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 dama...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Fazal E. Jalal, Sultani Mulk, Shazim Ali Memon, Babak Jamhiri, Ahsan Naseem
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2021-01-01
Series:Advances in Civil Engineering
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2021/9918757
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1832565760651689984
author Fazal E. Jalal
Sultani Mulk
Shazim Ali Memon
Babak Jamhiri
Ahsan Naseem
author_facet Fazal E. Jalal
Sultani Mulk
Shazim Ali Memon
Babak Jamhiri
Ahsan Naseem
author_sort Fazal E. Jalal
collection DOAJ
description 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, mv 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.
format Article
id doaj-art-fe4e833b6ba84c0197fa8b59fd735de2
institution Kabale University
issn 1687-8094
language English
publishDate 2021-01-01
publisher Wiley
record_format Article
series Advances in Civil Engineering
spelling doaj-art-fe4e833b6ba84c0197fa8b59fd735de22025-02-03T01:06:48ZengWileyAdvances in Civil Engineering1687-80942021-01-01202110.1155/2021/9918757Strength, Hydraulic, and Microstructural Characteristics of Expansive Soils Incorporating Marble Dust and Rice Husk AshFazal E. Jalal0Sultani Mulk1Shazim Ali Memon2Babak Jamhiri3Ahsan Naseem4Department of Civil EngineeringDepartment of Civil EngineeringDepartment of Civil and Environmental EngineeringDepartment of Civil EngineeringDepartment of Civil EngineeringExpansive/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, mv 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.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2021/9918757
spellingShingle Fazal E. Jalal
Sultani Mulk
Shazim Ali Memon
Babak Jamhiri
Ahsan Naseem
Strength, Hydraulic, and Microstructural Characteristics of Expansive Soils Incorporating Marble Dust and Rice Husk Ash
Advances in Civil Engineering
title Strength, Hydraulic, and Microstructural Characteristics of Expansive Soils Incorporating Marble Dust and Rice Husk Ash
title_full Strength, Hydraulic, and Microstructural Characteristics of Expansive Soils Incorporating Marble Dust and Rice Husk Ash
title_fullStr Strength, Hydraulic, and Microstructural Characteristics of Expansive Soils Incorporating Marble Dust and Rice Husk Ash
title_full_unstemmed Strength, Hydraulic, and Microstructural Characteristics of Expansive Soils Incorporating Marble Dust and Rice Husk Ash
title_short Strength, Hydraulic, and Microstructural Characteristics of Expansive Soils Incorporating Marble Dust and Rice Husk Ash
title_sort strength hydraulic and microstructural characteristics of expansive soils incorporating marble dust and rice husk ash
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2021/9918757
work_keys_str_mv AT fazalejalal strengthhydraulicandmicrostructuralcharacteristicsofexpansivesoilsincorporatingmarbledustandricehuskash
AT sultanimulk strengthhydraulicandmicrostructuralcharacteristicsofexpansivesoilsincorporatingmarbledustandricehuskash
AT shazimalimemon strengthhydraulicandmicrostructuralcharacteristicsofexpansivesoilsincorporatingmarbledustandricehuskash
AT babakjamhiri strengthhydraulicandmicrostructuralcharacteristicsofexpansivesoilsincorporatingmarbledustandricehuskash
AT ahsannaseem strengthhydraulicandmicrostructuralcharacteristicsofexpansivesoilsincorporatingmarbledustandricehuskash