Soil Stabilization Using Bottom Ash and Areca Fiber: Experimental Investigations and Reliability Analysis
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 30, Issue 8
Abstract
The rapid development of urban areas and the increase in construction activities have resulted in a scarcity of land with favorable soil conditions, necessitating the use of locally available weak soils for construction activities through stabilization techniques. This study introduces a new material, areca fiber, and its suitability as soil reinforcement. Although areca is available abundantly in many parts of the world, its application in geotechnical engineering has not been explored. In the present study, bottom ash (BA) is used as a stabilizing agent, and the suitability of natural areca fiber as reinforcement is demonstrated through detailed experimental investigations and reliability analysis. The test method includes compaction tests, unconfined compression strength (UCS) tests, California bearing ratio (CBR) tests, and split tensile strength tests. The BA content was varied from 0 to 40%, the fiber content was varied from 0 to 1.5%, and the corresponding performance assessment was done. A small amount of cement (3%) was also added to improve the pozzolanic reaction. The UCS and split tensile strength tests were conducted on samples at different curing periods with a maximum curing for 90 days, whereas CBR tests were conducted after 7 days of curing for both soaked and unsoaked conditions. There was considerable increase in UCS, CBR, and split tensile strength of the soil with addition of BA, and the strength values increased tremendously in the presence of areca fiber. Mineralogical and microstructural studies were conducted on the stabilized soil sample using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis. These results confirmed the formation of cementitious compounds in the XRD patterns and showed development of dense matrix in the SEM images. The performance of the modified subgrade soil was validated using a reliability approach, which found that the soil subgrade with BA and areca fiber can certainly be used as pavement material for low-volume applications.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
Al-Rawas, A. A. 2002. “Microfabric and mineralogical studies on the stabilization of an expansive soil using cement by-pass dust and some types of slags.” Can. Geotech. J. 39 (5): 1150–1167. https://doi.org/10.1139/t02-046.
ASTM. 2014. Standard test methods for specific gravity of soil solids by water pycnometer. ASTM D854-14. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM.
Ayyub, B. M., and R. H. McCuen. 2011. Probability, statistics, and reliability for engineers and scientists. New York, NY: CRC Press.
BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards). 1970. Classification and identification of soils for general engineering purposes. IS 1498-1970. New Delhi, India: BIS.
BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards). 1980. Methods of test for soils, Part 3 1980. IS 2720. New Delhi, India: BIS.
BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards). 1987. Part 16 laboratory determination of CBR. IS 2720. New Delhi, India: BIS.
BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards). 1991. Part 10 methods of test for soils Part 10 determination of unconfined compressive strength. IS 2720. New Delhi, India: BIS.
BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards). 1999. Method of test splitting tensile strength. IS 5816. New Delhi, India: BIS.
Cai, Y., B. Shi, C. W. Ng, and C.-S. Tang. 2006. “Effect of polypropylene fibre and lime admixture on engineering properties of clayey soil.” Eng. Geol. 87 (3): 230–240. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2006.07.007.
Chauhan, M. S., S. Mittal, and B. Mohanty. 2008. “Performance evaluation of silty sand subgrade reinforced with fly ash and fibre.” Geotext. Geomembr. 26 (5): 429–435. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geotexmem.2008.02.001.
Cheriaf, M., J. C. Rocha, and J. Pera. 1999. “Pozzolanic properties of pulverized coal combustion bottom ash.” Cem. Concr. Res. 29 (9): 1387–1391. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0008-8846(99)00098-8.
Das, B., S. Yen, and R. Dass. 1995. “Brazilian tensile strength test of lightly cemented sand.” Can. Geotech. J. 32 (1): 166–171. https://doi.org/10.1139/t95-013.
DASD (Directorate of Arecanut and Spices Development). 2015. Arecanut: Area, production and producitivty in India. Kerala, India: DASD.
Gosavi, M., and K. Patil. 2004. “Improvement of properties of black cotton soil subgrade through synthetic reinforcement.” J. Inst. Eng. (India) Part CV Civ. Eng. Div. 84: 257–262.
Ibraim, E., and S. Fourmont. 2007. “Behaviour of sand reinforced with fibres.” In Soil stress-strain behavior: Measurement, modeling and analysis, 807–818. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer.
IRC (Indian Roads Congress). 2007. Guidelines for the design of flexible pavements for low volume rural roads. IRC-SP-72-2007. New Delhi, India: IRC.
IRC (Indian Roads Congress). 2013. Tentative guidelines for the design of flexible pavements. IRC-37-2001. New Delhi, India: IRC.
Kolias, S., V. Kasselouri-Rigopoulou, and A. Karahalios. 2005. “Stabilisation of clayey soils with high calcium fly ash and cement.” Cem. Concr. Compos. 27 (2): 301–313. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconcomp.2004.02.019.
Kumar, A., and D. Gupta. 2016. “Behavior of cement-stabilized fiber-reinforced pond ash, rice husk ash-soil mixtures.” Geotext. Geomembr. 44 (3): 466–474. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geotexmem.2015.07.010.
Kumar, A., K. Kumar, N. Kaushik, S. Sharma, and S. Mishra. 2010. “Renewable energy in India: Current status and future potentials.” Renewable Sustainable Energy Rev. 14 (8): 2434–2442. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2010.04.003.
Latifi, N., A. Eisazadeh, A. Marto, and C. L. Meehan. 2017a. “Tropical residual soil stabilization: A powder form material for increasing soil strength.” Constr. Build. Mater. 147: 827–836. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2017.04.115.
Latifi, N., S. Horpibulsuk, C. L. Meehan, M. Z. Abd Majid, M. M. Tahir, and E. T. Mohamad. 2017b. “Improvement of problematic soils with biopolymer—An environmentally friendly soil stabilizer.” J. Mater. Civ. Eng. 29 (2): 04016204. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)MT.1943-5533.0001706.
Latifi, N., and C. L. Meehan. 2017. “Strengthening of montmorillonitic and kaolinitic clays with calcium carbide residue: A sustainable additive for soil stabilization.” In Geotechnical Frontiers 2017, 154–163. Reston, VA: ASCE.
Lekha, B., S. Goutham, and A. Shankar. 2015. “Evaluation of lateritic soil stabilized with Arecanut coir for low volume pavements.” Transp. Geotech. 2: 20–29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trgeo.2014.09.001.
Li, J., C. Tang, D. Wang, X. Pei, and B. Shi. 2014. “Effect of discrete fibre reinforcement on soil tensile strength.” J. Rock Mech. Geotech. Eng. 6 (2): 133–137. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrmge.2014.01.003.
Moghal, A. A. B., B. C. Chittoori, and B. M. Basha. 2018. “Effect of fibre reinforcement on CBR behaviour of lime-blended expansive soils: Reliability approach.” Road Mater. Pavement Des. 19 (3): 690–709.
Mohamed, A. 2002. “Hydro-mechanical evaluation of soil stabilized with cement-kiln dust in arid lands.” Environ. Geol. 42 (8): 910–921. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-002-0590-3.
Osinubi, K. J. 2000. “Stabilisation of tropical black clay with cement and pulverised coal bottom ash admixture.” In Advances in Unsaturated Geotechnics, 289–302. Reston, VA: ASCE.
Parsa, J., S. H. Munson-McGee, and R. Steiner. 1996. “Stabilization/solidification of hazardous wastes using fly ash.” J. Environ. Eng. 122 (10): 935–940. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9372(1996)122:10(935).
Rashid, A. S. A., N. Latifi, C. L. Meehan, and K. N. Manahiloh. 2017. “Sustainable improvement of tropical residual soil using an environmentally friendly additive.” Geotech. Geol. Eng. 35 (6): 2613–2623. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10706-017-0265-1.
Ravishankar, U., and S. Raghavan. 2004. “Coir stabilised lateritic soil for pavements.” In Proc., Indian Geotechnical Conf. New Delhi, India: Indian Geotechnical Society.
Sahu, V., A. Srivastava, A. K. Misra, and A. K. Sharma. 2017. “Stabilization of fly ash and lime sludge composites: Assessment of its performance as base course material.” Arch. Civ. Mech. Eng. 17 (3): 475–485. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acme.2016.12.010.
Sarbaz, H., H. Ghiassian, and A. A. Heshmati. 2014. “CBR strength of reinforced soil with natural fibres and considering environmental conditions.” Int. J. Pavement Eng. 15 (7): 577–583. https://doi.org/10.1080/10298436.2013.770511.
Sharma, A. K., and P. V. Sivapullaiah. 2016. “Strength development in fly ash and slag mixtures with lime.” Proc. Inst. Civ. Eng. Ground Improvement 169 (3): 194–205. https://doi.org/10.1680/jgrim.14.00024.
Solanki, P., and M. Zaman. 2012. Microstructural and mineralogical characterization of clay stabilized using calcium-based stabilizers. London, UK: INTECH Open Access Publisher.
Sridharan, A., and P. V. Sivapullaiah. 2005. “Mini compaction test apparatus for fine grained soils.” Geotech. Test. J. 28 (3): 240–246.
Tang, C.-S., X.-J. Pei, and D.-Y. Wang. 2014. “Interfacial micro-mechanical behavior of discrete fiber-reinforced soil.” In Soil Behavior and Geomechanics, 84–91. Reston, VA: ASCE.
USACE (US Army Corps of Engineers). 1999. Risk-based analysis in geotechnical engineering for support of planning studies. Washington, DC: USACE.
Venkateshappa, S. C., B. Bennehalli, M. G. Kenchappa, and R. P. G. Ranganagowda. 2010. “Flexural behaviour of areca fibers composites.” Bioresources 5 (3): 1846–1858.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 30 • Issue 8 • August 2018
Copyright
©2018 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jul 4, 2017
Accepted: Jan 9, 2018
Published online: May 28, 2018
Published in print: Aug 1, 2018
Discussion open until: Oct 28, 2018
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.