Impact of Wetting–Drying Cycles on Swelling Behavior and Micro-structural Analysis of Stabilized High Plastic Clay

Abstract

Clay minerals of expansive soil are susceptible to swelling and shrinkage due to moisture variation. Distress occurs to expansive clay soils due to drying and wetting cycle, which directly affect the lightweight structures. The effect of cyclic wetting–drying phenomena can be reduced by improving the soil. In this study, the high plastic clayey soil was treated with industrial waste granulated blast furnace slag and bagasse ash, and the influence of wetting and drying cycle on swelling characteristics of treated soil has been investigated in laboratory condition. Such investigation is needed to check the durability of stabilizer to modify the expansive soil. High plastic clay was stabilized with different proportion of BA and GGBS to get optimum mix. Both untreated and (0 and 28 days cured) treated expansive clay were analyzed for wetting–drying cycles. Variations in consistency limits of both natural and untreated clay were investigated. The micro-structural studies were also conducted by X-ray florescence and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The finding indicates that these waste products reduce the gradual deformation of stabilized high plastic clayey soil subjected to drying and wetting cycles. The result of this research revealed that bagasse ash can be used in soil stabilizer as a pozzolanic material in combination with ground-granulated blast furnace slag to improve swell–shrink behavior.