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Materials Today: Proceedings 4 (2017) 10581–10585 www.materialstoday.com/proceedings

ICEMS 2016

Engineering Behavior of Remolded Expansive Soil with Lime and

Flyash
P. P. Dahalea*, Dr. P. B. Nagarnaikb, Dr. A.Y. Gajbhiyec
a
Civil Engineering Department, Ramdeobaba College of Engineering & Management, Katol Road, Nagpur-440013, India
b
Civil Engineering Department, G.H.Raisoni College of Engineering, Digdoh Hills, Nagpur-440016, India
c
Civil Engineering Department, Yeshwantrao Chavan College Engineering, Wanadongri, Nagpur-440010, India

Abstract

Efficient use of waste materials is a proven solution to the problems associated with their disposal. Flyash is one such material
produced from thermal power plants requires a huge disposal area and creates environmental problems. Stabilization of weak
soils with flyash not only improves engineering properties of soil, but also provides answers to issues of flyash disposal. This
paper reports the results of laboratory investigation carried out on clayey soil stabilized with flyash and hydrated lime. The effect
of lime, flyash and curing days on the unconfined compressive strength (UCS), California bearing ratio (CBR) and compaction
parameters of stabilized soil is studied. An attempt made for establishing a relationship between tensile strength and compressive
strength of stabilized mixes. Brazilian tensile strength (BTS) of lime-flyash stabilized soil at 56 days curing varied in the range
22 to 143 kN/m2 and UCS from 143 to 2172 kN/m2. Remarkable strength increase indicates that the clayey soil can be
productively stabilize with flyash and hydrated lime
© 2017 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Selection and Peer-review under responsibility of International Conference on Recent Trends in Engineering and Material
Sciences (ICEMS-2016).

Keywords: Lime, Flyash, OMC, MDD, UCS, CBR, BTS

1. Introduction

Flyash obtained from the combustion of coal in the thermal power plants. It is produced in large quantity in many
parts of the world. In India, annual production of flyash in year 2014-15 was about 184 million tons (5) and it is

* P.P. Dahale, Civil Engg. Dept., RCOEM, Katol Road, Nagpur-440013 Tel.: +917122582844; fax: +917122580011
E-mail address: dahhalepp@rknec.edu

2214-7853 © 2017 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Selection and Peer-review under responsibility of International Conference on Recent Trends in Engineering and Material Sciences (ICEMS-
2016).
10582 Dahale P. P. et al. / Materials Today: Proceedings 4 (2017) 10581–10585

increasing day by day, leading severe problems of their disposal and environment pollution. However, favourable
properties of flyash such as low unit weight, high shear strength, low compressibility, insensitive to the moisture
variations and pozzolanic properties play an important role in enhancing the engineering properties of soils (1). This
will give an opt for reusing flyash an industrial waste for improving engineering performance soft soils and results
in an environment and economic benefits. Additionally, large-scale use of flyash is possible only in geotechnical
applications such as embankment, dam, earthfill and in road construction. Investigations related to soil stabilization
with flyash and lime conducted by few researchers in the past (Sivapullaiah, et al. 1995; Ghosh, et al. 2006; Consoli,
et al. 2007; Sharma 2012). The present study highlights the effect of stabilizers and curing periods on the
compressive strength, bearing ratio and tensile strength of mixes. Also, an empirical equation is developed for
predicting tensile strength from the UCS value for stabilized mixes at the end of desired curing period.

Nomenclature

P load at failure (N)

D diameter of specimen
T thickness of specimen
d day

2. Materials

The soil used in the present study was collected from Dighori area of Nagpur, Maharashtra, India. Test results show
the specific gravity of soil solids 2.64, liquid limit 60.08%, plastic limit 24.55% and plasticity index 35.53%. It has
sand, 8%, silt 38% and clay 54%. As per IS 1498, the soil classified as clay, with high compressibility (CH). The
optimum moisture content (OMC) and maximum dry density (MDD) of soil was found to be 25.32% and 1.462
g/cm3 respectively. Unconfined compressive strength (UCS) of soil at OMC is 78.38 kN/m2 and soaked California
bearing ratio (CBR) value is 2.23%.
Flyash used in the investigation collected from the Koradi thermal power station; Maharashtra, India belongs to
class F type according to ASTM C-618 12a. Flyash properties are as follows; specific gravity 2.13, MDD 1.305
g/cm3, OMC 38.65%. Chemical constituents of flyash determined at Indian Bureau of Mines laboratory on dry
weight basis are as follows; SiO2= 55.58%, Fe2O3= 3.92%, Al2O3= 26.40%, CaO= 6.71%, MgO= 0.59%, LOI=
3.68% and others 3.12%.
Hydrated lime used to stabilize soil. The chemical composition of lime on dry weight basis is SiO2= 3.60%, Fe2O3 =
1.66%, Al2O3=0.14%, CaO = 69.6%, MgO = 1.62%, LOI = 0.88% and others 21.6%.

3. Experimental Program

To study the effect of lime-flyash on the strength properties of stabilized mixes such as compressive strength,
bearing ratio and tensile strength, experimental program was carried out in different stages such as: (a) tests for soil,
flyash, and lime characterization, chemical analysis of composition, (b) series of Unconfined compressive strength
(UCS) tests, (c) series of soaked California Bearing ratio (CBR) tests, (d) series of Brazilian tensile strength (BTS)
tests. In this investigation, testing program conducted on the 21 mixes of different proportions of soil and flyash.
Flyash was mixed in dry state to the soil and weight ratios of soil: flyash 10:0, 10:1.25, 10:2.5, 10:3.75, 10:5, 10:7.5
and 0:10 are adopted for investigation. The pH test commonly referred as Eades and Grim’s test result specifies 6%
dose of lime as optimum. However, in the present experimental program three doses of lime 4%, 6%, 8% are
adopted. Test specimens in a set of three are prepared by compacting at OMC for every combination and cured for
7, 28 and 56 days in desiccators and using gunny bags. Average of three specimens test result is presented here.
 Dahale P. P. et al. / Materials Today: Proceedings 4 (2017) 10581–10585 10583

4. Test procedure, results and discussions

4.1 Compaction test

Test confirming to IS 2720 part 7 was conducted on all combinations and results are tabulated in Table 1. A
marginal decrease in maximum dry density (MDD) and increase in optimum moisture content (OMC) observed for
soil-lime mixes with increase in lime content, a similar trend was observed by other researchers in the past (Bell
1996; Khelifa 2011). Two possible reasons for MDD decrease are, firstly aggregation of particles due to Base
Exchange reaction with lime affecting the gradation of soil and secondly, smaller drop in density is due to the
replacement of soil particle in a given volume by relatively low specific gravity lime particles (Ola, 1977). An
increase in the OMC with lime is due to the pozzolanic reaction between the clay and lime. Observations of
compaction parameters OMC and MDD for lime-flyash stabilized mixes are similar to lime stabilization.

Table 1: MDD, OMC, soaked CBR, UCS and BTS test results of stabilized soils
soil:
flyash MDD OMC CBR (%) UCS (MN/m2) BTS (kN/m2)
Lime
weight (g/cm3) (%)
ratio 7d 28d 56d 7d 28d 56d 7d 28d 56d
10:00 4 1.432 27.12 5.85 14.21 18.43 0.31 0.69 0.87 52.9 84.9 87.6
10:00 6 1.411 29.31 9.52 25.82 31.79 0.57 1.01 1.35 62.1 91.3 114.5
10:00 8 1.407 29.92 10.99 26.64 33.58 0.55 0.97 1.22 67.5 107 109.6
10:1.25 4 1.392 27.05 4.63 19.70 25.30 0.54 1.02 1.22 53.1 96.4 106.3
10:1.25 6 1.381 28.55 10.34 29.45 33.50 0.85 1.53 1.81 70.3 119.8 143.2
10:1.25 8 1.378 28.8 12.22 29.1 33.2 0.84 1.46 1.67 76.4 127.1 138.2
10:2.5 4 1.368 28.07 5.49 14.34 17.30 0.69 1.18 1.43 33.2 76.0 100.2
10:2.5 6 1.346 28.78 19.81 33.66 41.44 1.11 1.88 2.17 43.1 106.4 141.8
10:2.5 8 1.328 29.02 18.44 32.00 40.34 1.07 1.80 1.97 88.3 117.3 129.5
10:3.75 4 1.359 28.88 6.88 13.52 17.1 0.63 1.10 1.41 29.2 72.4 96.4
10:3.75 6 1.341 29.28 12.8 22.7 34.03 1.00 1.60 1.95 40.6 103.2 137.1
10:3.75 8 1.326 29.81 17.26 23.47 29.4 0.99 1.53 1.75 85.3 116.7 127.9
10:5 4 1.338 29.09 9.13 19.45 26.15 0.56 1.01 1.37 52.6 99.4 111.7
10:5 6 1.317 29.92 12.41 28.51 35.10 0.85 1.26 1.65 70.3 111.1 126.0
10:5 8 1.305 30.43 18.17 27.10 34.16 0.90 1.21 1.50 91.2 108.5 124.1
10:7.5 4 1.312 32.76 4.09 8.48 9.78 0.29 0.48 0.62 32.3 57.4 69.2
10:7.5 6 1.303 33.32 5.75 10.13 10.17 0.50 0.68 0.69 46.9 71.6 84.32
10:7.5 8 1.293 33.87 6.30 21.20 22.89 0.57 0.97 1.03 56.3 105.7 132.3
00:10 4 1.298 36.71 3.48 7.48 10.42 0.37 0.53 0.68 26.4 42.5 50.5
00:10 6 1.282 36.84 8.41 16.62 16.93 0.47 0.77 0.78 32.5 65.3 69.6
00:10 8 1.266 37.08 13.20 19.09 24.06 0.90 1.24 1.35 82.1 104.1 111.2

4.2. California bearing ratio test

Soaked CBR tests was performed on the soil mixes confirming to IS 2720 part 16. Table 1 shows the results of
soil-lime and soil-flyash-lime specimens cured and soaked for last four days at the end of curing period. For lime
alone, CBR increases with lime and curing period, reduces marginally for 8% lime. An observation indicates that
soil: flyash weight ratio 10:5 improves CBR value for the mixes however, beyond this weight ratio CBR value
10584 Dahale P. P. et al. / Materials Today: Proceedings 4 (2017) 10581–10585

reduces for soil-flyash-lime mix. Maximum CBR value attain for 10:2.5 soil: flyash weight ratio with 6% lime for
all days of curing.

4.3. Unconfined compressive strength test

As per IS 2720 part 10 guidelines, UCS test was performed on the stabilized mixes. To comprehend the
pozzolanic reaction effect on the strength, specimens were cured for 7, 14, 28, and 56 days in the desiccators.
Table 1 show the UCS tests results of soil-lime and soil-lime-flyash mixes at the end of desired curing periods. UCS
of lime stabilized soil has increased due to lime availability for pozzolanic reaction. Test results depict the strength
increase with a curing period for lime stabilized soils, but with 8% lime UCS value reduces marginally. Similar to
CBR test, weight ratio of soil: flyash 10:2.5 gives maximum UCS value for the mix with 6% lime. It was observed
that, with higher flyash doses (> 25% by weight of soil), in general UCS of stabilized mix reduces. Flyash used in
the present study is a class F type flyash with small calcium content (6.71%), so it do not possess cementing
properties and do not react chemically with the soil. Probably flyash when mixed with soil affects the soil gradation
led to increase the strength of mix at smaller doses (up to 25% by weight of soil).

4.4. Brazilian tensile strength test

Conduction of direct tensile strength measurement test on the stabilized mixes is very difficult and hence
Brazilian tensile strength (BTS) is performed to determine tensile strength indirectly. Test was conducted as per the
IS 10082 guidelines on the stabilized mixes of 80 mm diameter (D) and 40 mm thickness (T) [keeping D/T ratio as
two]. Tensile strength of stabilized soil must be known particularly when stabilized soil is used as subgrade in road
construction, as subgrades are often subjected to traffic movement, temperature variation and differential settlement
led to development of tensile stresses causing tensile failures in the pavement. Equation (1) is the required equation
for tensile strength calculation, where, P = load at failure, D= specimen diameter, T= specimen thickness;

= (2 ∗ )/( ∗ ∗ ) (1)

5. Tensile strength determination from UCS

Based on the test results, an attempt has been to make to establish an empirical relationship between Brazilian
tensile strength (BTS) and unconfined compressive strength (UCS) for all 63 test results as shown in the Figure 1.
This relationship will be useful for analytically predict the values of BTS from UCS value for the stabilized mix.
Since, UCS test is the most common and recognized test performed on the clayey soils to determine the compressive
strength, so same test is considered to measure the tensile strength analytically. In the present study, the ratio of
tensile strength to the compressive strength for different mix proportion vary in the range 5 to 17%, similar attempt
made by previous researchers (Das, 1995; Consoli et al., 2001; Ghosh et al., 2006) on cemented sand and flyash-
cement specimen shows ratio of tensile strength to compressive strength in the range 9-12%.

6. Conclusions

On the basis of experimental program conducted on the soil-flyash-lime mixes, following conclusions are
drawn;

• In general, all strength properties of stabilized mixes namely UCS, CBR and BTS increase with the lime
content and curing period.
• Flyash modifies the strength properties of clayey soils significantly and flyash addition up to 25% by soil
weight in the soil mix found effective to improve strength properties.
• An empirical equation suggested to analytically predicting tensile strength from the unconfined
compressive strength for the soil-flyash-lime mixes.
 Dahale P. P. et al. / Materials Today: Proceedings 4 (2017) 10581–10585 10585

200

Brazilian Tensile Strength, BTS (kN/m2)

BTS = 0.0327xUCS1.1261
150 R² = 0.8833

100

50

0
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500
2
Unconfined Compressive Strength, UCS (kN/m )

Figure 1 Relationship between BTS and UCS for soil stabilized with flyash and lime

References

[1] Sivapullaiah P. V., Prashanth J.P., Sridharan Asuri, Optimization of lime content for flyash, ASTM Journal of
testing and evaluation, vol.23, issue 3 (1995) 222-227.
[2] Bell F.G., Lime stabilization of clay minerals and soils, Journal of Engineering Geology (Elsevier), 42 (1996)
223-237.
[3] Ghosh A., Subbarao C., Tensile strength, bearing ratio and slake durability class F flyash stabilized with lime
and gypsum, Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering (ASCE), vol. 18 (2006) 18-27.
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lime and natural pozzolana, International Journal of Civil Engineering, vol. 9, no. 2 (2011) 90-96.
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of Indian Standards (BIS), New Delhi, India.
[11] IS 2720-part 26 (1997), Methods of test for soils: Determination of pH value, Bureau of Indian Standards
(BIS), New Delhi, India.
[12] IS 10082 (1981), Method of test for determination of tensile strength by indirect test on rock specimens,
Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), New Delhi, India.
[13] Ola S.A., The potentials of lime stabilization of lateritic soils, Journal of Engineering Geology (Elsevier), 11
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