1 Undergraduate Student, Jay Shriram Group of Institutions, Tirupur, Tamil Nadu, India
2 Professor, Jay Shriram Group of Institutions, Tirupur, Tamil Nadu, India
3 Lecturer, Department of Civil Engineering, Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria
Stabilization of poor soils subjected to large daily temperature variations requires careful selection of suitable stabilizer for improvement of such soils. This study investigated the freeze-thaw resistance of an alluvial soil stabilized with EcoSand and asbestos-free fiber powder (AFP). Physical and mechanical properties of the soil were determined. The soil sample was stabilized with 5 variants of equal mixtures of the EcoSand and AFP in proportions of 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10%, with 1% sodium silicate and 1% fly ash, by weight of the soil. UCS tests were conducted before and after three freeze-thaw cycles, while keeping the sample at 0ºC for 8 hours and later at 30ºC for 8 hours for each cycle. It was found that the 8% EcoSand + AFP with 1% sodium silicate and 1% fly ash content provided an optimized increase of the freeze-thaw resistance of the soil. The use of a mixture of EcoSand and AFP as a soil stabilizer for regions of the world experiencing large temperature variation has the potential to improve the resistance of sand to freezing and thawing.
Freeze-thaw test, soil stabilization, soil improvement, waste management
