COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF PORTLAND AND WHITE CEMENT IMPACT ON UNCONFINED COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH OF SOIL

Abstract

Soil improvement plays a vital role in any engineering project, as the entire load from the superstructure is transmitted on the underlaying soil. Weaker soil increases foundation dimension, which is costly and soft soil generally causes difficulties on construction sites when it has low strength and low stiffness. Hence, in order to reduce cost and achieving better structural stability, soil must be stabilized with a mixture in order to achieve larger load carrying capacity. When soils fail to meet the geotechnical requirements, stabilizing the soil using cement is an essential process in geotechnical practice. Clay soil was stabilized in this study using white cement and regular Portland cement. White cement and Portland cement were collected and mixed with clay soil in amounts of 2%, 4%, 6%, 8%, and 10%. Soil tests such as grain size distribution, specific gravity test, unconfined compressive test, soil tests were performed on samples. The report includes field sampling, laboratory testing and engineering analysis and evaluation. From the result of unconfined compressive strength test, it is found that the addition of 6%, 8%, 10% of Portland cement and 10% of white cement increases the shear strength of the clay soil.