Impact of Severe Climate Conditions on Loss of Mass, Strength, and Stiffness of Compacted Fine-Grained Soils–Portland Cement Blends
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 30, Issue 8
Abstract
The influence of wet-dry cycles on the enduring performance (loss of mass, strength, and stiffness) of compacted fine-grained soils–portland cement blends might be important information for designing earthworks that could be subjected to severe climate conditions. This study assesses possible variations of cement-treated fine-grained soils’ accumulated loss of mass (ALM), unconfined compressive strength () and maximum shear stiffness () when subjected to wetting-drying cycles (mimicking severe climate conditions). Brushing of specimens (to check loss of mass), ultrasonic pulse velocity tests, and unconfined compression tests are performed after wetting-drying cycles for this study. Results show that, for each specimen tested, ALM changes at a constant rate with the number of cycles (NC). In addition, increases from zero to three wetting-drying cycles and fluctuates around an average for further cycles, whereas decreases from zero to three wetting-drying cycles and then fluctuates around an average (distinct for each dry unit weight and amount of cement used) for further cycles. The possible cause of such contradictory results is the effect of oven drying for 42 h at (during the drying part of the wet-dry cycles), which might provoke the catalysis of the chemical reactions of the portland cement, as well as the retraction (and consequent fissuring) of the specimens of silt–portland cement blends in the initial cycles. Finally, the porosity/cement index is found to be a predictor of the ALM, ALM/NC, , and fine-grained soil–cement blends studied after a series of wetting-drying cycles.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The authors express their appreciation to Edital 12/2014 FAPERGS/CNPq – PRONEX (Project No. 16/2551-0000469-2) and CNPq (INCT-REAGEO and Produtividade em Pesquisa) for funding the research group.
References
ABNT (Associação Brasileira de Normas Técnicas). 2010. Mortar and concrete: Test method for compressive strength of cylindrical specimens. [In Portuguese.] NBR 5739. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: ABNT.
ASTM. 2006. Standard classification of soils for engineering purposes. ASTM D2487. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM.
ASTM. 2008. Standard test method for laboratory determination of pulse velocities and ultrasonic elastic constants of rock. ASTM D2845-08. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM.
ASTM. 2010. Standard test method for compressive strength of cylindrical concrete specimens. ASTM C39. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM.
ASTM. 2015. Standard test methods for wetting and drying compacted soil-cement mixtures. ASTM D559. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM.
ASTM. 2016. Standard specification for portland cement. ASTM C150. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM.
Avirneni, D., P. R. T. Peddinti, and S. Saride. 2016. “Durability and long term performance of geopolymer stabilized reclaimed asphalt pavement base courses.” Constr. Build. Mater. 121 (Sep): 198–209. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2016.05.162.
Chang, T. S., and R. D. Woods. 1992. “Effect of particle contact bond on shear modulus.” J. Geotech. Eng. 118 (8): 1216–1233. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9410(1992)118:8(1216).
Chittoori, B. C. S. 2008. “Clay mineralogy effects on long-term performance of chemically treated expansive clays.” Ph.D. thesis, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Univ. of Texas.
Chittoori, B. C. S., A. J. Puppala, and A. Pedarla. 2018. “Addressing clay mineralogy effects on performance of chemically stabilized expansive soils subjected to seasonal wetting and drying.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng. 144 (1): 04017097. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)GT.1943-5606.0001796.
Consoli, N. C., F. Dalla Rosa, and A. Fonini. 2009. “Plate load tests on cemented soil layers overlaying weaker soil.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng. 135 (12): 1846–1856. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)GT.1943-5606.0000158.
Consoli, N. C., J. K. Da Silva, H. C. Scheuermann Filho, and A. B. Rivoire. 2017a. “Compacted clay-industrial wastes blends: Long term performance under extreme freeze-thaw and wet-dry conditions.” Appl. Clay Sci. 146 (Sep): 404–410. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clay.2017.06.032.
Consoli, N. C., V. P. Faro, F. Schnaid, R. B. Born, and M. S. Carretta. 2017b. “Crosswise-loaded short and long piles in artificially cemented top sand layers embedded in lightly bonded residual soil.” Soils Found. 57 (6): 935–946. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sandf.2017.08.022.
Consoli, N. C., A. V. Fonseca, S. R. Silva, R. C. Cruz, and A. Fonini. 2012. “Parameters controlling stiffness and strength of artificially cemented soils.” Géotechnique 62 (2): 177–183. https://doi.org/10.1680/geot.8.P.084.
Consoli, N. C., D. Foppa, L. Festugato, and K. S. Heineck. 2007. “Key parameters for strength control of artificially cemented soils.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng. 133 (2): 197–205. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)1090-0241(2007)133:2(197).
Consoli, N. C., H. P. Nierwinski, A. P. Da Silva, and J. Sosnoski. 2017c. “Durability and strength of fiber-reinforced compacted gold tailings-cement blends.” Geotext. Geomembr. 45 (2): 98–102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geotexmem.2017.01.001.
Consoli, N. C., R. A. Quiñónez, L. E. González, and R. A. Lopez. 2017d. “Influence of molding moisture content and porosity/cement index on stiffness, strength, and failure envelopes of artificially cemented fine-grained soils.” J. Mater. Civ. Eng. 29 (5): 04016277. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)MT.1943-5533.0001819.
Consoli, N. C., R. A. Quiñónez, S. F. V. Marques, G. I. Venson, E. Pasche, and L. E. González Velázquez. 2016. “Single model establishing strength of dispersive clay treated with distinct binders.” Can. Geotech. J. 53 (12): 2072–2079. https://doi.org/10.1139/cgj-2015-0606.
Consoli, N. C., D. A. Rosa, R. C. Cruz, and A. Dalla Rosa. 2011. “Water content, porosity and cement content as parameters controlling strength of artificially cemented silty soil.” Eng. Geol. 122 (3–4): 328–333. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2011.05.017.
Guney, Y., D. Sari, M. Cetin, and M. Tuncan. 2007. “Impact of cyclic wetting-drying on swelling behavior of lime-stabilized soil.” Build. Environ. 42 (2): 681–688. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2005.10.035.
Horpibulsuk, S., C. Suksiripattanapong, W. Samingthong, R. Rachan, and A. Arulrajah. 2016. “Durability against wetting-drying cycles of water treatment sludge-fly ash geopolymer and water treatment sludge-cement and silty clay-cement systems.” J. Mater. Civ. Eng. 28 (1): 04015078. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)MT.1943-5533.0001351.
Hoy, M., R. Rachan, S. Horpibulsuk, A. Arulrajah, and M. Mirzababaei. 2017. “Effect of wetting-drying cycles on compressive strength and microstructure of recycled asphalt pavement-fly ash geopolymer.” Constr. Build. Mater. 144 (Jul): 624–634. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2017.03.243.
Kampala, A., S. Horpibulsuk, N. Prongmanee, and A. Chinkulkijniwat. 2014. “Influence of wet-dry cycles on compressive strength of calcium carbide residue-fly ash stabilized clay.” J. Mater. Civ. Eng. 26 (4): 633–643. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)MT.1943-5533.0000853.
Kelley, C. M. 1988. A long-range durability study of lime stabilized bases at military posts in the Southwest. Arlington, VA: National Lime Association.
Khattab, S. A. A., M. Al-Mukhtar, and J.-M. Fleureau. 2007. “Long-term stability characteristics of a lime-treated plastic soil.” J. Mater. Civ. Eng. 19 (4): 358–366. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0899-1561(2007)19:4(358).
Le Runigo, B., O. Cuisinier, Y.-J. Cui, V. Ferber, and D. Deneele. 2009. “Impact of initial state on the fabric and permeability of a lime-treated silt under long-term leaching.” Can. Geotech. J. 46 (11): 1243–1257. https://doi.org/10.1139/T09-061.
Mehenni, A., O. Cuisinier, and F. Masrouri. 2015. “Hydro-mechanical behavior and erodibility of treated soils: Short term effects and sustainability.” In Proc., 16th European Conf. on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, 2817–2822. London, UK: Institution of Civil Engineers.
Neramitkornburi, A., S. Horpibulsuk, S. L. Shen, A. Chinkulkijniwat, A. Arulrajah, and M. M. Disfani. 2015. “Durability against wetting-drying cycles of sustainable lightweight cellular cemented construction material comprising clay and fly ash wastes.” Constr. Build. Mater. 77 (Feb): 41–49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2014.12.025.
Puppala, A. J., A. Pedarla, B. Chittoori, V. K. Ganne, and S. Nazarian. 2017. “Long-term durability studies on chemically treated reclaimed asphalt pavement material as a base layer for pavements.” Transp. Res. Rec. 2657: 1–9. https://doi.org/10.3141/2657-01.
Stoltz, G., O. Cuisinier, and F. Masrouri. 2012. “Multi-scale analysis of the swelling and shrinkage of a lime-treated expansive clayey soil.” Appl. Clay Sci. 61 (Jun): 44–51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clay.2012.04.001.
Stoltz, G., O. Cuisinier, and F. Masrouri. 2014. “Weathering of a lime-treated clayey soil by drying and wetting cycles.” Eng. Geol. 181 (Oct): 281–289. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2014.08.013.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
©2018 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Sep 1, 2017
Accepted: Feb 21, 2018
Published online: May 29, 2018
Published in print: Aug 1, 2018
Discussion open until: Oct 29, 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.