Stabilization of Black Cotton Soil by Fly Ash

International Journal of Application or Innovation in Engineering & Management (IJAI
(IJAIE
AIEM)
Web Site: www.ijaiem.org Email: editor@ijaiem.org, editorijaiem@gmail.com
ISSN 2319 - 4847
Special Issue for National Conference On Recent Advances in Technology and Management for
Integrated Growth 2013 (RATMIG 2013)
Stabilization of black cotton soil by Fly Ash

Ashish Mehta1, Kanak Parate2 and B. S. Ruprai3
Ashish Mehta1
1
Assistant professor, GNIEM,Nagpur.
Ashishmehta_ngp@yahoo.com
Kanak Parate2
kanakparate@gmail.com
B.S.Ruprai3
balbirr@rediffmail.com
ABSTRACT
In India about 51.8 million hectares of the land area are covered with Expansive soils (black cotton soil). The Black cotton
soils are very hard when dry, but lose its strength completely when in wet condition. Expansive soils are a worldwide
problem that poses several challenges for civil Engineers.
Various methods are adapted to improve the engineering characteristics of expansive soils. The problematic soils are
either removed and replaced by good and better quality material or treated using additive. The present paper deals with the
properties of expansive soils of Maharashtra, India at various locations. In this study, black cotton was stabilized using fly
ash (obtained from koradi thermal power plant). Expansive soils were stabilized with various proportion of fly ash i.e. at
0,10,20 30, 40 & 50% . Fly ash posses no plasticity. Plasticity index of clay fly ash mixes decreases with increase in fly ash
content. Thus addition of fly ash makes expansive soil less plastic and increases its workability by colloidal reaction and
changing its grain size. The CBR values of clay with fly ash mixes, tested under unsoaked & soaked conditions & there
results were observed, with analysis of results it is found that the fly ash has a good potential to be used as an additive for
improving the engineering properties of expansive soils.
Keywords: Expansive soil, fly ash, compaction characteristics, CBR value.
1. INTRODUCTION
In India about 51.8 million hectares of the land area are covered with Expansive soils (black cotton soil). . The Black cotton
soils are very hard when dry, but lose its strength completely when in wet condition. Expansive soils are a worldwide problem
that poses several challenges for civil Engineers.various methods are adapted to improve the engineering characteristics of
expansive soils. The problematic soils are either removed and replaced by good and better quality material or treated using
additive. The stabilization of the problematic soils is very important for many of the geotechnical engineering applications
such as pavement structures, roadways, building foundations, channel and reservoir linings, irrigation systems, water lines,
and sewer lines to avoid damage due to settle of soft soil or to the swelling action of expansive soil.
Generally, the stabilization concept can be dated 5000 years ago. Treated earth roads were used in ancient Mesopotamia
and Egypt, and that the Greek and Roman used soil-lime mixtures [1]. The first experiments on soil stabilization were
achieved in the USA with sand/clay mixtures around 1906. In the 20th century, especially in the thirties, the soil stabilization
relevant to road construction was applied in Europe [2] The pavement soil qualities will be improved by thoroughly mixing
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and compacting with additives include Portland cement, fly ash, bitumen, and combinations of any of the additives [4]. The
type of the additive and the amount required are dependent upon the soil classification and the degree of improvement desired
[5].
Numerous investigators,([6], [7], [8], [9] & [10], have studied the influence of lime, cement, lime-cement, lime-flyash, lime
–ricehusk- ash and cement – fly ash mixes on soil properties, mostly focusing on the strength aspects to study their suitability
for road bases and subbasess. As lime and cement are binding materials, the strength of soil-additive mixtures increases
provided the soil is reactive with them. However, for large-scale field use, the problems of soil pulverization and mixing of
additives with soil have been reported by several investigators ([6],[7],[8],[9],[10]).
2. MATERIALS AND METHODS

Black cotton soils are inorganic clays of medium to high compressibility and form a major soil group in India. They are
characterized by high shrinkage and swelling properties. This Black cotton soils occurs mostly in the central and western parts
and covers approximately 20% of the total area of India. Because of its high swelling and shrinkage characteristics, the Black
cotton soil (BC soils) has been a challenge to the highway engineers.
2.1 BLACK COTTON SOIL
Geotechnical properties of black cotton soil are given in Table 1
Table 1: Properties of expansive soil
Free
Liquid Plastic Swelling
Specific Shrinkage OMC MDD swell
Colour limit limit pressure
Gravity limit (%) (%) (g/cc) index
(%) (%) (kg/cm2)
(%)
Black 2.65 40- 60 15 - 25 8 - 15 20-30 1.4-1.6 50 to 60 4-6
2.2 FLY ASH
Fly ash additive in soil, fly ash is use due to

• Fly ash is costless and abundantly available all over the country.
• As fly ash is a by-product of thermal power plants, land area required for its disposition is a great problem in a
densely populated country like India.
• Utilization of fly ash solves the problem of air and water pollution.
Table 2: Properties of fly ash
Angle of
Specific OMC MDD Cohesion Compression Permeability Coefficient
Colour Plasticity internal
Gravity (%) at (g/cc) (kN/m2) index Cc (cm/sec) of uniformity
friction
1.90 – Non 38.0 – 0.9 – 8 x 10-6 –

Grey Negligible 300 – 400 0.05 – 0.4 3.1 – 10.7
2.55 plastic 18.0 1.6 7 x 10-4
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3. TEST PROGRAMME
Several tests has been conducted to observed geotechnical properties of black soil like
i) Specific Gravity
ii) Atterberg limit tests
In case of flexible pavement construction bottom most layer is soil subgrade. It is desire that soil subgrade should carry loads
without large deformations which finally results in failure of pavements. For economic design, locally available soil should
use as soil subgrade. It is tedious job for civil engineer to provided flexible pavement on black soil due to swelling shrinkage
nature of soil. As for soil Subgrade normally locally available soil are used, soil improvement will be required. Now a days
various techniques are available to stabilized soil. So, as part of soil stabilization fly ash is used in varying percent as
10,20,30,40 & 50%, and effect of fly ash on water content density relationship & CBR value will be observed.
4. OBSERVATION & RESULTS

4.1 EFFECT OF COMPACTION
Effect of fly ash on geotechnical properties of soil are
Table 3: Properties of soil-fly ash mix
CBR ( soaked) CBR
Particular OMC (%) MDD(N/m3)
(%) (unsoaked)(%)
B. c soil 20.4 14.7 3.1 6.89
B. c soil+10% fly ash 29.17 14.20 2.52 12.78
B. c soil+20% fly ash 22.19 14.97 2.0 22.90
B. c soil+30% fly ash 26.19 14.4 1.89 6.98
B. c soil+40% fly ash 27.1 13.9 2.49 7.68
B. c soil+50% fly ash 24.16 13.6 2.35 7.61
Water content density relation

90.00
80.00
70.00
60.00 b.c soil +50% fly
Dry Density50.00 ash
(KN/m3) 40.00 b.c soil + 40% fly
30.00 ash
20.00 b.c + 30% fly ash
10.00
0.00
15.5 16.9 22.8 28.4 36.8
moistur content (w%)
Figure 1: Water content density relationship for soil fly ash mix
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Effect of fly ash % on CBR Value

30
25
20
CBR (%) 15
unsoaked CBR test
10
soaked cbr test
5
0
0 10 20 30 40 50
Fly ash (%)
Figure 2: Relationship between CBR value & soil fly ash mix
With following results it is observed that, the unsoaked CBR value is higher with 20% Fly ash compared to other mixes.
Comparatively the dry density with 20% fly ash is higher than the other percentages of fly ash. So it may be reported that fly
ash has good potential for use in geotechnical applications. The relatively low unit weight of fly ash makes it well suited for
placement over soft or low bearing strength soils. Its low specific gravity, freely draining nature, ease of compaction,
insensitiveness to changes in moisture content, good frictional properties, etc. can be gainfully exploited in the construction of
embankments, roads, reclamation of low-lying areas, fill behind retaining structures, etc.
REFERENCE
[1] O. C. McDowell, “Stabilization with lime, lime-fly ash, and other lime reactive materials”, High Ress Board, Vol 231, pp.
60-61, 1959.
[2] A. Kezdi, “Stabilized Earth Roads”. Amsterdam: Elsevier Scientific Publishing Company, 1979.
[3] T. S. Nagaraj, and N. Miura. “Soil Clay Behaviour, Analysis and Assessment”, Brook Field, Rotterdam: AA. Belkema,
2001.
[4] “Chemical and Mechanical Stabilization of Subgrades and Flexible Pavement Sections”, July 1998. TTN Tensar Technical
Note BR 10, 1998
[5] U. S. Army, U. S. Navy, and U. S. AirForce, “Soil Stabilization for Pavements”, In University Press of the Pacific.
Honolulu, Hawaii, 2005.
[6] Mc Dowell, C. (1959). “Stabilization of Soils with Lime, Lime-fly ash and other Lime reactive minerals”, HRB, Bulletin
No. 231.
[7] Ramana Murthy, V. (1998). “Study on swell pressure and method of controlling swell of expansive soil”, Ph.D. Thesis,
Kakatiya university, REC, Warangal.
[8] Ramana Sastry,M.V.B. (1989). “Strengthening Subgrades of Roads in Deltaic Areas of Andhra Pradesh”, Proc of IGC-89,
Visakhapatnam, India Vol.1, pp 181-184.
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[9] M. Jayakumar and Lau Chee Sing, “Experimental Studies on Treated Sub-base Soil with Fly Ash and Cement for
Sustainable Design Recommendations”, International Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences 6 2012.
[10] VenkaraMuthyalu, K. Ramu and G.V.R. Prasada Raju , “Study On Performance of Chemically Stabilized Expansive
Soil” International Journal of Advances in Engineering & Technology, Jan 2012.
AUTHORS
Er. Ashish A. Mehta has obtained M. Tech in Geotechnical Engineering from Nagpur
University in 2009. At present he is working as Assistant Professor in Civil Engineering
Department in Guru Nanak Institute of Engineering and Management Nagpur. His areas of
interest are soil liquefaction, deep foundation and soil structure interaction.
Er. Kanak N. Parate is M.Tech in Structural Engineering. He is working as Assistant Professor in

Civil Engineering Department in Guru Nanak Institute of Engineering and Management
Nagpur. His areas of interest are soil structure interaction and earthquake engineering.

Stabilization of Black Cotton Soil by Fly Ash

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International Journal of Application or Innovation in Engineering & Management (IJAI

Stabilization of black cotton soil by Fly Ash

Keywords: Expansive soil, fly ash, compaction characteristics, CBR value.

2. MATERIALS AND METHODS

Table 1: Properties of expansive soil

2.2 FLY ASH

Fly ash additive in soil, fly ash is use due to

Table 2: Properties of fly ash

1.90 – Non 38.0 – 0.9 – 8 x 10-6 –

4. OBSERVATION & RESULTS

B. c soil+50% fly ash 24.16 13.6 2.35 7.61

Water content density relation

Effect of fly ash % on CBR Value

Er. Kanak N. Parate is M.Tech in Structural Engineering. He is working as Assistant Professor in

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