Enhancing the strength of expansive clayey soil using lime as soil stabilizing agent along with sodium silicate as grouting chemical

Abstract

The expansive clayey soils have been found plenty in the southern semiarid region of Tamil Nadu. This study deals with the strength enhancement of the locally available expansive clayey soil by using hydrated lime powder as a stabilizing agent and sodium silicate as a grouting chemical. Standard proctor test and unconfined compressive strength test were carried out to determine the optimum percentage of lime content for soil stabilization, which was 10%. An unconfined compressive strength test was carried out by varying the proportion of sodium silicate to 2%, 4%, 6%, 8%, and 10% by keeping optimum lime content. California Bearing Ratio (CBR) test was conducted to determine the soil's load-carrying capacity for both the untreated soil and treated soil. The CBR value for soil treated with lime content is 5.2 times the CBR value of untreated soil. Similarly, the CBR value for soil treated with an optimum proportion of lime and sodium silicate is 7.86 times the CBR value of untreated soil.