The swelling behaviour of lignosulfonate-treated expansive soil

Abstract

This paper presents results regarding the potential of lignosulfonate (LS) to control the swelling of expansive soil. One-dimensional swell tests were performed on untreated and LS-treated remoulded samples of Australian expansive soil from the state of Queensland. The test results indicated that LS has significant influence on the swelling behaviour of this expansive soil. The results were compared with those of identical cement-treated soil samples, and it was found that LS could be a economical and environmentally friendly alternative to traditional alkaline additives. In addition, the behaviour of LS-treated specimens during repeated freezing and thawing cycles was measured. The results indicated significant improvement in the percentage mass loss in LS-treated specimens compared with cementtreated specimens. The microstructural analysis of the untreated and the LS-treated samples showed soil surface area reduction in the treated specimens, which in turn reduced the affinity of the specimens towards moisture uptake, resulting in a reduction in the swell potential of the otherwise expansive soil. The use of LS as a novel non-traditional stabiliser for expansive soil appears to be a viable solution in view of the sustainable use of waste by-products and green construction. indicated that LS has significant influence in the swelling behaviour of this expansive soil. The results were compared with those of cement-treated identical soil samples, and it was found that LS could be a resourceful and environmental friendly alternative to traditional alkaline additives. In addition, the behaviour of LS treated specimens during repeated freezing and thawing cycles were measured. The results indicated significant improvement in percentage mass loss in LS treated specimens compared to cement treated specimens. The microstructural analysis of untreated and LS treated samples showed soil surface area reduction in treated specimens, which in-turn reduced the affinity of the specimens towards moisture uptake, thus the reduction in swell potential of the otherwise expansive soil. The use of LS as a novel nontraditional stabilizer for expansive soil appears to be a viable solution in view of sustainable use of waste by-products and green construction. List of notations

Consistency limits and compaction characteristics of clay soils containing rubber waste

“…Promising replacements, based on recent studies, include recycled tyre rubbers, waste textiles, demolition wastes, kiln and quarry dusts, and silicate/calcium geopolymers (e.g. Al-Amoudi et al, 2017;Alazigha et al, 2016;Arulrajah et al, 2017;Kua et al, 2017;Mirzababaei et al, 2013aMirzababaei et al, , 2013bSoosan et al, 2005).…”

Strength and Volume Change Characteristics of Clayey Soils: Performance Evaluation of Enzymes

“…Researchers have been making efforts to reduce the dependence on energy-intensive stabilizers such as cement and lime [1]. In this regard several non-traditional stabilizers have been tried for improving desirable soil characteristics, which include sulfonated oils, lignin derivatives, polymer-based additives, resins, enzymes, silicates, and calcium/sodium chloride geopolymers [2][3][4]. A newly developed slag-blended cement and fly ash were used to improve the cemented paste backfill as a sustainable solution.…”

Swell–Shrink Behavior of Rubberized Expansive Clays during Alternate Wetting and Drying

“…The cyclic wetting-drying behavior of natural expansive clays has been well documented in the literature [41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48]. In comparison, the number of documented studies addressing the cyclic wetting-drying behavior of stabilized expansive clays is limited, most of which have been carried out in the context of chemical stabilization by means of cementitious and/or polymeric binders [6,7,[49][50][51][52][53]. To the authors' knowledge, however, the cyclic wetting-drying behavior of rubber mixed expansive clays remains undetermined.…”

“…Liquid limit; 2 Plasticity index;3 Unified Soil Classification System;4 Clay with low plasticity;5 Clay with high plasticity;6 Clay with intermediate plasticity;7 Silt with high plasticity;8 Polyacrylamide; (M) is mass fraction; (V) is volume fraction; (L) is length; and (W) is width.…”