Strength and Stiffness of Artificial Organic Soil Admixed with Lime Zeolite

Abstract

Chemical stabilizers especially calcium based stabilizer, namely lime and cement had been widely used to modify and stabilize the soil. Extensive studies were carried out by researchers to improve the effectiveness and cost-benefit of stabilizers by introducing various types of blended lime and cement. Unconfined compressive test (UCT), one of the most simple and quick strength tests, is commonly used by researchers to indicate the suitability and successfulness of newly introduced stabilizer. The aim of this study is to establish the relationship and correlation of unconfined compressive strength and tangent modulus, E at 50% of unconfined compressive strength of artificial organic soil admixed with lime zeolite. Two types of artificial organic soils, which named as Type A and Type B were prepared manually by mixing commercial kaolin with humic acid powder in different percentages. The artificial organic soils were admixed with blended lime zeolite in different ratio and cured for 7, 28 and 56 days in an oven with controlled temperature of 50°c. The strength of the materials were determined by compressing the specimens using a UCT testing frame and the tangent modulus, E50 were calculated by plotting a linear slope at 50% of ultimate strength over stress-strain curve. The findings of the study showed that the strength and E50 are strongly correlated and important as the indicator of rigidity of the material as well as its capability to resist compressive load.