Swelling Behavior Evaluation of a Lime-Treated Expansive Soil through Centrifuge Test
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 29, Issue 12
Abstract
The main objectives of this research are to investigate the effect of hydrated lime (HL) treatment on the swelling behavior of a natural expansive soil, Eagle Ford clay from Texas, through centrifuge testing. So far, no studies have been performed using the centrifuge to analyze the swelling reduction in expansive soils by stabilization treatments. Also, no studies have measured the improvement of lime treatment efficiency due to variables controlled during preparation of lime-soil mixtures, such as compaction moisture content, compaction dry density, and the applied effective stress. From the analysis of the swelling versus time curves, three values were defined to examine the swelling behavior: the swelling potential (Sp), the primary swelling slope (PSS), and the secondary swelling slope (SSS). Assessment of the lime treatment efficiency, as quantified by the swelling potential reduction ratio (SPR) indicates that lime dosage requirements can be decreased by increasing the compaction moisture content and/or reducing the compaction dry density. Also the hydrated lime dosage needed to prevent swelling depends on the applied g-level (i.e., applied stress).
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful for the financial support from the Brazilian government: (1) National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), for the scholarships (Doctorate and Research Productivity), and Universal Research Project and (2) Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Level or Education Personnel (CAPES), for the sandwich doctorate scholarship to develop this study. Support received by the Texas Department of Transportation and the National Science Foundation is also gratefully acknowledged.
References
Al-Mhaidib, A. I., and Al-Shamrani, M. A. (1996). “Swelling characteristics of lime treated expansive soils.” Geotech. Eng., 27, 37–54.
Al-Rawas, A. A., Hago, A. W., and Al-Sarmi, H. (2005). “Effect of lime, cement and Sarooj (artificial pozzolan) on the swelling potential of an expansive soil from Oman.” Build. Environ., 40(5), 681–687.
Armstrong, C. P. (2014). “Effect of fabric on the swelling of highly plastic clays.” Master thesis, Univ. of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX.
Bin, S., Zhibin, L., Yi, C., and Xiaoping, Z. (2007). “Micropore structure of aggregates in treated soils.” J. Mater. Civil Eng., 99–104.
Das, J. T. (2014). “Evaluation of the rate of secondary swelling in expansive clays using centrifuge technology.” Master thesis, Univ. of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX.
Dell’Avanzi, E., Zornberg, J. G., and Cabral, A. R. (2004). “Suction profiles and scale factors for unsaturated flow under increased gravitational field.” Soils Found., 44(3), 79–89.
Holt, C. C., Freer-Hewish, R. J., and Ghataora, G. S. (2000). “The use of lime-treated British clays in pavement construction. 2: The effect of mellowing on the stabilization process.” Proc. Inst. Civil Eng. Transp., 141(4), 207–216.
Komine, H. (2004). “Simplified evaluation for swelling characteristics of bentonites.” Eng. Geol., 71(3), 265–279.
Kuhn, J. A. (2010). “Characterization of the swelling potential of expansive clays using centrifuge technology.” Ph.D. dissertation, Univ. of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX.
LabView [Computer software]. National Instruments, Austin, TX.
Lambe, T. W. (1958). “The engineering behavior of compacted clay.” J. Soil Mech. Found. Div., 84(2), 1–35.
Likos, W. J., and Lu, N. (2006). “Pore-scale analysis of bulk volume change from crystalline interlayer swelling in Na+- and Ca2+-smectite.” Clays Clay Miner., 54(4), 515–528.
Lin, B. (2012). “A comprehensive investigation on microscale properties and macroscopic behavior of natural expansive soils.” Ph.D. dissertation, Univ. of Oklahoma, Norman, OK.
Lin, B., and Cerato, A. B. (2014). “Applications of SEM and ESEM in microstructural investigation of shale-weathered expansive soils along swelling-shrinkage cycles.” Eng. Geol., 177, 66–74.
Mitchell, J. K., and Soga, K. (2005). Fundamentals of soil behavior, Wiley, Hoboken, NJ.
Nalbantoglu, Z., and Tuncer, E. R. (2001). “Compressibility and hydraulic conductivity of a chemically treated expansive clay.” Can. Geotech. J., 38(1), 154–160.
Panjaitan, S. R. N. (2014). “The effect of lime content on the bearing capacity and swelling potential of expansive soil.” J. Civil Eng. Res., 4(3A), 89–95.
Pedarla, A., Puppala, A. J., Hoyos, L. R., and Chittoori, B. (2016). “Evaluation of swell behavior of expansive clays from internal specific surface and pore size distribution.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 04015080.
Plaisted, M. D. (2009). “Centrifuge testing of expansive clay.” Master thesis, Univ. of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX.
Schanz, T., and Elsawy, M. B. (2015). “Swelling characteristics and shear strength of highly expansive clay-lime mixtures: A comparative study.” Arabian J. Geosci., 8(10), 7919–7927.
Sivapullaiah, P. V., Sridharan, A., and Stalin, V. K. (1996). “Swelling behaviour of soil bentonite mixtures.” Can. Geotech. J., 33(5), 808–814.
Snyder, L. M. (2015). “Determination of potential vertical rise in expansive soils using centrifuge technology.” Master thesis, Univ. of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX.
Villar, M. V., and Lloret, A. (2008). “Influence of dry density and water content on the swelling of a compacted bentonite.” Appl. Clay Sci., 39(1), 38–49.
Walker, T. M. (2012). “Quantification using centrifuge of variables governing the swelling of clays.” Master thesis, Univ. of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX.
Zornberg, J. G., Kuhn, J. A., and Plaisted, M. D. (2009). “Characterization of the swelling properties of highly plastic clays using centrifuge technology.”, Center for Transportation Research, Austin, TX.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
©2017 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Dec 4, 2016
Accepted: May 31, 2017
Published online: Oct 4, 2017
Published in print: Dec 1, 2017
Discussion open until: Mar 4, 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.