Stabilization of low plastic and high plastic clay using guar gum biopolymer

Abstract

In geotechnical engineering, soil stabilization provides practical and cost-effective solutions related to problematic soils. With the growing necessity for environmentally friendly and sustainable materials, researchers have been exploring alternative methods such as biological approaches for soil stabilization. Biopolymers are produced from living organisms and are considered to be environmentally friendly soil stabilizers. A detailed study on stabilization of soil using Guar Gum biopolymer was carried out through intensive laboratory testing. For this purpose, low plastic (CL) and high plastic (CH) clays were treated with varying contents of Guar Gum biopolymer (1%, 2%, 3% and 4%) by the weight of dry soil. The experimental program mainly focused on compaction characteristics, unconfined compressive strength, California Bearing Ratio (CBR) and swell potential tests. All the samples were prepared on dry mix basis. The UCS of cured and soaked samples was tested after 2, 7, 14 and 28 days of curing and soaking. Strengthening effect of Guar Gum biopolymer was observed with the increasing biopolymer content and curing period. An increase of 182.64% and 243.30% was observed in the UCS of CL and CH respectively at the end of curing period using 2% biopolymer content. The results indicated a significant increase in the CBR of both CL and CH under soaked and unsoaked conditions. The incorporation of Guar Gum biopolymer has shown significant improvement in geotechnical properties of low plastic and high plastic clays and can be adopted as a potentially sustainable soil stabilizer.