EFFECT OF LIQUID POLYMER STABILIZER ON GEOTECHNICAL PROPERTIES OF FINE GRAINED SOIL

Author

Ashish Dev Pant, Southern Illinois University CarbondaleFollow

Date of Award

5-1-2016

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Civil Engineering

First Advisor

Kolay, Prabir

Abstract

Soil stabilization is a common technique to increase the strength and durability and also to reduce the swell-shrink behavior of foundation soil or subgrade soil in pavement. Nowadays, several nontraditional stabilizers (e.g., Polymer, Enzyme, Ionic stabilizer etc.) are available in market whose behavior is not fully understood for wide range of soil types. In the present study two types of soils i.e., Carbondale soil ‘clay with high plasticity (CH)’ and Galatia soil ‘silt with low plasticity (ML)’ has been used. A commercially available liquid polymer “Soiltac” was selected as a stabilizer and mixed with both the soils at various percentages i.e., 0.0%, 0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5% and 3.0% by dry weight of soil to study the effect of polymer on geotechnical properties of soil. Particle size distribution, liquid limit, plastic limit, specific gravity and standard Proctor tests were conducted to identify the basic index properties of the soil. Unconfined Compressive Strength (UCS) tests were conducted after 3 days, 7 days and 28 days of curing period for CH soil. For ML soil, UCS tests were carried out after 7 days and 28 days of curing period. In addition, California Bearing Ratio (CBR) tests were conducted for CH soil at unsoaked and soaked (soaked for 96 hours) conditions. With the addition of stabilizer, no significant changes in UCS values were obtained for ML soil. For CH soil, UCS values increases upto 1.5% stabilizer dose and then decreases with 3.0% of stabilizer. Also, for CH soil, UCS value increases with the increase in curing period. For CH soil, the unsoaked CBR value increases upto 1.5% stabilizer dose and then decreases with 3.0% of stabilizer but no significant improvement in soaked CBR values were found.