Experimental Analysis to Evaluate the Effectiveness of Lime and Non-Traditional Additives on Subgrade Soil Stabilization of Kerman-Zangiabad Road

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Abstract

Soil stabilization techniques for civil engineering applications are currently a common practice for road performance improvement. During the past few years, in addition to traditional stabilizers, chemical and mineral substances have been produced and used for soil modification. New development of such material makes it necessary to evaluate their effectiveness in any project. The current study compares the effectiveness of lime and non-traditional additives on the properties of subgrade soil of Kerman–Zangiabad road , located in southeast of Iran. The non-traditional additives are commercially called RRP as an ionic additive, and ZAM I and ZAM II which are classified as polymers. The experimental study includes evaluation of the main index properties of the soil, atterberg limits, pH, swelling potential, CBR, unconfined compressive test (UC) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM).The results of unconfined compressive tests after a 28 day curing period indicates that the maximum strength was obtained by adding 2% lime, while various dosage rates of other additives at different curing times had no significant effect on the UC strength of the soil.Based on the results from swelling potential tests and SEM observation, formation of crystalline mineral namely ettringuite, seems improbable in the process of lime stabilization in the soil matrix.

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