Materials Today: Proceedings 37 (2021) 2014–2018

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Influence of fly-ash on the engineering characteristics of stabilised clay

soil
M.S. Deepak a,⇑, S. Rohini b, B.S. Harini c, G. Beulah Gnana Ananthi d,⇑
a
Civil Engineering, BMS Institute of Technology and Management, Bengaluru, India
b
Civil Engineering, Karur College of Engineering, Karur, India
c
Civil Engineering, BMS Institute of Technology and Management, Bangalore, 560 064, India
d
Civil Engineering, Structural Engineering Division, Anna University, Chennai, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Soil must be able to withstand the load and transfer it to ground within the range of allowable deforma-
Received 12 July 2020 tions, for which it must possess good physical and geotechnical properties. Clay soils become more adhe-
Accepted 22 July 2020 sive once when it becomes wet and whereas if it is dry it is characterised by surface cracks. To overcome
Available online 27 August 2020
these circumstances in soil, it should be treated and stabilized in best way. In this study, the influence of
two different kinds of Fly-Ashes namely, Class-F Fly-Ash and Class-C Fly-Ash along with the inclusion of
Keywords: lime in the improvisation of stability characteristics of clayey soil. Experiments were conducted to deter-
Geotechnical properties
mine the Atterberg limits, Standard Proctor Compaction values and Un-Confined Compression strength of
Fly-ash
Soil stabilisation
various soil samples with different mix ratios to evaluate influence of Fly-Ash in the stabilisation process.
Plasticity index Addressing to the fact that Fly-Ash does not possess any plastic property, the Clay-Fly-Ash mixes show a
Inter particle spacing decrease in Plasticity Index (P.I.) value with increase in the Fly-Ash content. Fly-Ash addition in the clay
soil mix that contains lime decreases the plasticity of soil, and also escalates the workability. The work-
ability is increased by modifications in its particle size and collision behaviour. It is concluded that, the
addition of lime and Fly-Ash influenced to acquire to stronger and stiffer soil matrix by reducing the inter
particle spacing. Based on the experimental study results, the addition of C-Class Fly-Ash was found to be
more effective than F-Class Fly-Ash when supplemented along with lime.
Ó 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the International Confer-
ence on Newer Trends and Innovation in Mechanical Engineering: Materials Science.

1. Introduction Calcium Silicate Hydrates (C-S-H) and Calcium Aluminate Hydrates

Stabilization of soil is a technique of changing the characteris-
tics of soil to enhance the performance of soil for construction
and engineering purposes. The usual variable parameters consid-
ered are the density, water content, the plasticity and strength
are usually varied. Soil stabilization method involves the inclusion
of cementitious binder materials in weaker soil profiles to impro-
vise the geotechnical properties such as compression strength, per-
meability and durability of soil. Structures requisites stable
foundations for their stability and extended life [1–16].
Pozzolanic reaction occurs and generates long-term strength
gain by stabilizing the reactive soil with lime, stable forms of
⇑ Corresponding authors.
E-mail addresses: deepakms143@gmail.com (M.S. Deepak), beulahceg@gmail.
com (G. Beulah Gnana Ananthi).
(C-A-H) were formed by the reactions in the soil. Addition of lime
reacts with the formed aluminates and silicates those that are sol-
ubilized by the clay soil particles. This pozzolanic reaction is a
long-term process which continues for decades until enough lime
is present in the soil, and also the pH level is maintained high
say greater than 10. Hence, treating soil with lime can achieve high
and long enduring strength characteristics. There are two summa-
rized benefits of adding of lime to soil, they are, at first, exchange
phenomenon at the base by modification in the nature of the
absorbed layer. Secondly, cementing, binding pozzolanic activity.
Fly-Ash has proved to be very successful in enhancing the strength
properties of soils in many structural projects. Fly-Ash has been
often used in various construction activities like, increasing the
stability of embankments by stabilizing the sub-structure by
reducing the lateral earth pressure action and also, increasing the
stiffness. Fly-Ash on mixing with lime and water, it produces a

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2020.07.497
2214-7853/Ó 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the International Conference on Newer Trends and Innovation in Mechanical Engineering:
Materials Science.
 M.S. Deepak et al. / Materials Today: Proceedings 37 (2021) 2014–2018 2015

cementitious composite which attains the properties those that are Table 2
much similar to the activities of the Portland cement. Two grades Chemical constituents of fly-ash.

of fly-ash materials that are categorized by ASTM C618 as F-Class Compounds Percentage (%)
fly-ash and C-Class fly-ash were considered in the study. F-Class C-Class
SiO2 62.5 55.53
Fe2O3 3.50 3.62
2. Materials considered
Al2O3 23.4 23.34
CaO 3.80 10.97
2.1. Clay soil samples MgO 0.34 1.22
SO3 1.20 0.24
Na2O 0.24 2.83
Clay soil samplings were collected from a part of ground at the
Government College of Technology, Coimbatore after removing the
top layer of loose soil up to 0.6 m depth. As per IS 2720, numerous
tests were carried out to determine the engineering characteristics
on the soil samplings and the results are as recorded in Table 1. weight of Fly-Ash is varied as 0, 1, 3, 5%. The effect of these replace-
ments was studied by performing experiments to find the Atter-
2.2. Fly-ash berg limits, Standard Proctor Compaction values and Un-Confined
Compression strength for different mixes of samples. Samplings
Fly-Ash is an ancillary product retained as residue by the incin- to carry out Un-Confined Compression strength tests were cured
eration of pulverized coal materials in the thermal power-plants. in room temperature. The effect of curing time on samples at 3,
Out of two commonly obtained, Fly-Ashes ‘C’ and ‘F’ grades, respec- 7, and 28 days of age was also investigated.
tively, former obtained by burning of sub- bituminous coals com- In this study, four mixes of samples were prepared and the tests
prises of more calcium and less iron when compared to the later were conducted.
fly-ash got by burning bituminous coal. Primary difference
between the two classes of fly-ash products are differentiated by 1. First Mix- Soil prepared without lime and Fly-Ash, i.e. 0% Fly-
the chemical composition of their parent raw coal combusted. Ash and 0% lime.
The chemical composition of the F-Class Fly-Ash and C-Class Fly- 2. Second Mix- Soil prepared with 2 and 4% of lime.
Ash are as tabulated in Table 2. 3. Third Mix- Soil prepared with lime and 1,3,5% of F-Class Fly-Ash
4. Fourth Mix- Soil prepared with lime and 1,3,5% of C-Class Fly-
Ash
2.3. Lime

Lime functions as a cementitious binder composite material in 4. Results and discussion

the active stabilisation of the clayey soil. Amongst the frequently
used stabilisation technique, chemical stabilization technique is
most commonly used for lime stabilization, and also it is a known
method for the advancement of plastic characteristics and strength
of cohesive soil say clay soil. Study proves that improvement and
enhancement of soil resistance for external load was the first
appreciable gain acquired through stabilization utilising lime. Pro-
cess is such that first, the exchange of cations, secondly, agglomer-
ation through flocculation, followed by thirdly, carbonation of lime
and finally reaction of pozzolanic particles, hence the soil particles
are glued and bind together and forms into larger particles. Specific
weight of lime as provided by the supplier is 540 kg/m3.
3. Methodology
Fly-Ash and Lime compounds are used as admixtures to mix
with the soil for stabilisation. Two varieties of Fly-Ash were used
in this project. Fly-Ash was supplemented to the lime stabilised
soil in varying percentiles and their effects in the properties of soil
were studied. The weight of lime is varied as 0, 2, 4% and the
4.1. Atterberg limits
The Atterberg limits is a simple measure for the main water
contents of a fine-grained soil. These tests are used to differentiate
silt and clay. These limits signify the moisture contents at which an
explicit soil’s behaviour changes from solid state to plastic state
i.e., Plastic Limit (P.L) and from plastic to liquid i.e., Liquid Limit
(L.L). The difference between liquid limit and plastic limit is iden-
tified as Plasticity Index (P.I).
The results are as given in Fig. 1. It is evident from the results
that when the clayey soil is added with both Fly-Ash classes with-
out lime, the plasticity properties gets slight rise with the increase
of Fly-Ash particles. This increase occurs due to the cementitious
binder properties of Fly-Ash. When Fly-Ash and lime is added to
the clayey soil, the plasticity property gets decreased with increase
in addition of Fly-Ash percentages. This reduction in the plasticity
characteristics is due to exchange of cations and their reaction
between CaO in limestone and SiO2 in nano Fly-Ash, as a result
of which clay particles come closer to form a coarse-grained tex-
ture leading to improvement in standard.

4.2. Compaction values

Table 1
Soil properties.
Compaction is the method of improving the density of soil by
Properties Values removing air voids and fluids that exists between the soil particles
Moisture % 7 using mechanical tools. Compaction is determined by Standard
Specific gravity 2.61 Proctor Compaction tests carried out in the laboratories to deter-
Clay % 70.37 mine the Optimum Moisture Content (OMC) at which a soil can
Sand % 18.9
Silt % 10.73
reach its Maximum Dry Density (MDD). The results are as plotted
Liquid limit % 67 in Fig. 2.
Plastic limit% 44 It is inferred that water content disturbs the soil density. As the
Plasticity index% 23 water percentage is increased, the compacted density goes on
Soil classification CH
decreasing until maximum dry density is achieved, a point after
2016 M.S. Deepak et al. / Materials Today: Proceedings 37 (2021) 2014–2018
Fig. 1. Atterberg’s limit test results.
which further addition of water decreases the density. Addition of
lime increases water content and reduces the MDD. In adding Fly-
Ash, again a minor increase in water content was observed which
naturally decreased the optimum moisture content.
4.3. Un-confined compression strength
Un-Confined Compression strength test which is well known as
uniaxial compression test, is a unique case of a triaxial test, in
which there is zero confining pressure. The application of the
Un-confined Compression Test (UCS) is to rapidly measure or esti-
mate the unconfined compressive strength of soils that possess
adequate cohesion and that allows investigation in its unconfined
state.
From the graphs illustrated in Fig. 3 shows the different com-
pressive strength in 3-days, 7-days and 28-days achieved by clayey
soil with the varying proportions of lime and the different percent-
age addition of both the grades of Fly-Ash. It was inferred that
there occur no changes in the compressive strength of the clayey
soil with increase in addition of either F-Class or C-Class fly-ash
without adding lime, at all curing conditions. A slight rise in the
strength occurs due to filling and densification of voids because
of the mechanical compaction. The 3-days and 7-days compressive
strengths reached reveals that the early stage strength rises with
increase in percentage addition of Fly-Ash up to 3% for both 2%
and 4% replacement of lime.
The 28 days test results differ from 3- and 7-days test by reveal-
ing that the compressive strength increases with increase in addi-
tion of Fly-Ash even after 3% addition, for both 2% and 4%
replacement of lime. This signifies the effect of curing time on sam-
ples, as the strength of 28 days sample continues to increase by
adding 5% of Fly-Ash. Moreover, the strength of the stabilised soil
samples with 4% lime content was found to be higher compared
to that of stabilised soil which contains 2% lime and also the
strength of Fly-Ash C-Class samples was higher than the Fly-Ash
F-Class samples.
 M.S. Deepak et al. / Materials Today: Proceedings 37 (2021) 2014–2018
*Optimum Moisture Content (OMC); Maximum Dry Density (MDD)
Fig. 2. Compaction test results.
5. Conclusions
The following points provide important conclusions derived
from this study on clayey soil,
 Adding Fly-Ash alone do not create great impact in improvising
the engineering characteristics of soil.
 Improvement in the plasticity, compaction and strength proper-
ties are encountered due to high reactivity of Fly-Ash with the
additive lime.
 Referring to the experimental results obtained from the consis-
tency limits test, 3% addition of Fly-Ash (both F-Class and C) and
2% addition of lime were considered to be the optimum.
 Eliminating the effects of curing, considering 3% addition of
F-Class Fly-Ash was found to be optimum with reference to
the strength characteristic25.96% increase in strength is
obtained with 4% addition of lime compared with 2% lime
2017
addition at 28 days.
 Adding 3% C-Class Fly-Ash with 4% addition of lime was found to be
the optimum dosage compared with 2% addition of lime dosage.
The compressive strength was increased about 27.23% in 28-days.
 From the experimental analysis, 3% addition of Fly-Ash (both F-
Class and C) and 2% addition of lime is considered to be opti-
mum. These replacement percentages, for F-Class Fly-Ash, the
strength of the stabilized sample was 60% on comparison with
the unstabilized soil. For C-Class Fly-Ash, the strength of stabi-
lized clay soil sample enhanced upto 68% compared with the
unstabilized one.
 4% addition of lime can be preferred for works that necessitates
greater strength improvement.
 On comparison of the results obtained from this study, the C-
Class Fly-Ash proves to have more strength than F-Class Fly-Ash.
2018 M.S. Deepak et al. / Materials Today: Proceedings 37 (2021) 2014–2018
*UCS- Un-confined Compression Test
Fig. 3. Compression test results.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing finan-
cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared
to influence the work reported in this paper.
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