Laboratory Investigation on Fiber-Reinforced Expansive Subgrade Soil Stabilized with Alkali Activated Binder: A Reliability-Based Perspective
Publication: Geo-Congress 2022
ABSTRACT
Expansive soil possesses inferior mechanical behavior with periodic variability in heave/shrink, causing distortion and premature failure to the pavement structures. In the present study, an attempt was made to strengthen the expansive subgrade soils by combining alkali-activated binder (AAB) with naturally available hemp (HF) and banana fiber (BF). HF and BF were chemically treated (10M of KaOH) to improve their durability. The influences of varying dosages of fibers and slag in fiber-reinforced alkaline soil significantly improved California Bearing ratio (CBR) and flexural strength. Microstructural and morphological studies using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were also carried out to understand the behavior of HF and BF-AAB soil mixture at varying slag and fiber content. It was observed that HF-alkaline soil achieved higher interfacial bonding with good interlocking density relative to BF-AAB soil. Furthermore, the uncertainties associated with subgrade strength in terms of CBR were expressed in the form of a reliability index (βCBR) using Monte Carlo simulation (MCS). The results showed that the optimum dosages of slag and fiber in the alkaline soil mixture were essential factors for regulating the linear shrinkage tensile crack and strengthening the stiffness of subgrade soil.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this chapter.
REFERENCES
AASHTO. “Guide for Design of Pavement Structures.” AASHTO-Washington, DC. 1 (1993): 1–18.
Bell, F. G. (1996). “Lime stabilization of clay minerals and soils.” Engineering Geology, 42(4), 223–237.
Cristelo, N., Cunha, V. M. C. F., Topa Gomes, A., Araújo, N., Miranda, T., and Lurdes Lopes, M. de. (2017). “Influence of fibre reinforcement on the post-cracking behaviour of a cement-stabilised sandy-clay subjected to indirect tensile stress.” Construction and Building Materials, Elsevier, 138, 163–173.
Davidovits, J. (1994). “Properties of geopolymer cements.” Alkaline Cements and Concretes, Kiev, Ukraine, 1–19.
Gupta, S., GuhaRay, A., Kar, A., and Komaravolu, V. P. (2018). “Performance of alkali-activated binder-treated jute geotextile as reinforcement for subgrade stabilization.” Intl. Jrnl of Geotech Engg, Taylor & Francis, 1–15, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/19386362.2018.1464272.
Moghal, A. A. B., Chittoori, B. C. S., Basha, B. M., and Al-Shamrani, M. A. (2017). “Target Reliability Approach to Study the Effect of Fiber Reinforcement on UCS Behavior of Lime Treated Semiarid Soil.” Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering, 29(6), 04017014.
Moghal, A. A. B., Chittoori, B. C. S., and Basha, B. M. (2018). “Effect of fibre reinforcement on CBR behaviour of lime-blended expansive soils: reliability approach.” Road Materials and Pavement Design, Taylor & Francis, 19(3), 690–709.
Sudhakaran, S. P., Sharma, A. K., and Kolathayar, S. (2018). “Soil stabilization using bottom ash and areca fiber: Experimental investigations and reliability analysis.” Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering, 30(8), 1–10.
Syed, M., and Guharay, A. (2020). “Effect of Fiber Reinforcement on Mechanical Behavior of Alkali-Activated Binder-Treated Expansive Soil: Reliability-Based Approach.” International Journal of Geomechanics, ASCE, 20(12), 1–14.
Syed, M., GuhaRay, A., and Goel, D. (2021). “Strength characterisation of fiber reinforced expansive subgrade soil stabilized with alkali activated binder.” Road Materials and Pavement Design, https://doi.org/10.1080/14680629.2020.1869062.
Syed, M., and GuhaRay, A. (2021). Effect of natural fiber reinforcement on strength response of alkali activated binder treated expansive soil: Experimental investigation and reliability analysis. Construction and Building Materials, 273, 121743.
Tang, C., Shi, B., Gao, W., Chen, F., and Cai, Y. (2007). “Strength and mechanical behavior of short polypropylene fiber reinforced and cement stabilized clayey soil.” Geotextiles and Geomembranes, 25(3), 194–202.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Geo-Congress 2022
Pages: 241 - 250
History
Published online: Mar 17, 2022
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.