Investigating the Effect of Quarry Dust Enhancement on Engineering Behavior of Expansive Soil Using MCDM

Abstract

AbstractThe volumetric change of expansive soil is considered as a challenge for civil engineers and many methods were produced in order to stabilize such soils. In this study the enhancement of 10, 20, and 30% of Quarry Dust (QD) as stabilization material for four types of silt and clays characterized as expansive soils was explored. The soil samples were collected from different locations in Northern Cyprus with swell percentages ranging from 4 to 20%. The properties of the collected samples were examined in a laboratory and the effect of quarry dust on physical properties, compaction characteristics, one dimensional swell and unconfined compressive strength were measured. Findings displayed that the addition of 10, 20, and 30% QD results in an overall decrease in the Atterberg limits. Addition of quarry dust improved the compaction properties of the obtained soil at all proportions, with the result showing a decrease in the optimum water content and a gradual increase in the maximum dry density. Also, the swell percentages decreased with the increases of the QD while the compressive strength improved. Moreover, the water absorption during the swell decreased with the increase of QD proportion. The results were then compared by multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) based on liquid limit, plasticity index, specific gravity, maximum dry density, optimum water content, clay type, unconfined compressive strength, the sample being naturally occurring and being environmentally friendly by using QD, a waste by-product. The best results were found in the highly plastic silt sample with no enhancement and originally having a low swell potential, followed by the same silt sample with 30% quarry dust enhancement. Among the clay samples the most desired swelling and mechanical behavior was observed in a highly plastic clay soil with original swell percentage of 13.5% in which with 30% QD enhancement it got reduced to 4.4%.KeywordsQuarry dustSoil stabilizationExpansive claysMCDACompressive strength