Effects of Lime, Marble Powder, and Pumice Powder on the Consistency Limits of High-Plasticity Clay

Abstract

This present in geotechnical engineering, the behavior of clayey soils is commonly characterized using consistency limits, from which key engineering behavior. Soils exhibiting unfavorable geotechnical performance can be stabilized by incorporating pozzolanic additives rich in silica (Si), calcium (Ca), and aluminum (Al). However, the effectiveness of such additives may vary depending on both the type of stabilizing material and the plasticity characteristics of the clay soil. In this context, the present study investigates the effects of lime (L) at 0–8%, pumice powder (P) at 5–25%, and marble powder (M) at 5–15% on the liquid limit (LL), plastic limit (PL), and plasticity index (PI) of high-plasticity clay soil (CH). A series of Casagrande tests were conducted to determine the consistency limit values of the prepared mixtures. The results indicated that the incorporation of additives generally reduced the liquid limit and plastic limit values of the clay soil. In addition, the PI values of CH–L–M mixtures increased with the inclusion of 10, 15, 20, and 25% pumice powder, whereas the addition of 5% pumice powder reduced the PI values of all mixtures.

Keywords

• Liquid limit
• plastic limit
• plasticity index
• lime
• pumice
• marble
• and clay soil

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