Abstract
Many chemicals stabilisation techniques are being employed all over the world to improve the engineering and physical properties of the problematic soils and reduce the potential damages caused by them. Out of those chemical stabilisation technics, application of Polyurethane to improve the strength of marine clay was investigated in the laboratory. Characterization of the soil geotechnical properties was carried out by conducting laboratory test that includes natural moisture content, Atterberg limits, grains sizes analyses, specific gravity, moisture-density relationship, unconfined compressive strength (UCS), organic matter content and PH tests. Unconfined compressive strength test at optimum moisture content with varying the dose of the Polyurethane content was conducted to test the effectiveness of Polyurethane as a chemical stabiliser. The result of the preliminary tests of the sample shows that the soil has a liquid limit of 65%, plastic limit of 26% and plasticity index of 53%. The percentages of gravel, sand and fines in the marine clay sample were 0 %, 1.32 % and 98.68 % respectively %. The results of the UCS test also revealed that Polyurethane stabilisation improved the strength of marine clay by 230%. Thus, the improvement in strength of stabilised marine clay soil can significantly reduce the overall thickness of the pavement and total cost of the road construction in future.
Highlights
The continuous increases in population called for infrastructural development in the coastal areas which has a lot of marine clay deposit
The result of the particles sizes distribution further confirmed that the soil has a fine fraction up to 98%, optimum moisture content (OMC) of 25% maximum dry density MDD of 1440Kg/m3 and loss of ignition (LOI) of 8%
From the information gathered and the experimental studies conducted, the following conclusions and recommendations are made on the application of Polyurethane for stabilisation of marine clay
Summary
The continuous increases in population called for infrastructural development in the coastal areas which has a lot of marine clay deposit. Constructing these infrastructures needs a good foundation soil; marine clay is not suitable for that purpose It is characterised by significant swelling and shrinkage when exposed to variations in moisture content. The unconfined compressive strength is between 25 to 50 kPa [2] These properties showed that marine clay is not suitable for use as a foundation material. The promising properties of Polyurethane like high strength, low viscosity and density, short gelling time and inertness chemically after hardening are encouraging and lead to this research on investigation its application to stabilise marine clay. Polyurethane is used globally as a construction material [35], [38], [39]
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