Using Sea Shell, Lime and Zeolite as Additives in the Stabilization of Expansive Soils

Year 2025, Volume: 36 Issue: 3

Senanur Çelik , Sabriye Banu İkizler , Dina Aqra , Zekai Angın

https://doi.org/10.18400/tjce.1464572

Abstract

Swelling soils are increasingly recognized as a critical issue in geotechnical engineering, as their presence can lead to substantial damage to built structures. When structures are built on such soils and free swelling is prevented, stresses can develop that may lead to significant damage to the structure. Soil stabilization through the use of additive materials has garnered considerable attention as an effective method for mitigating this problem. The objective of this study was to stabilize the clay soil (CH) with high swelling potential by using sea shell, lime and zeolite additives in two stages. In the initial phase, consistency limits were tested by mixing high plasticity clay soil mixed with 8-10-12-14-16% sea shell 0-3-5-6-8% lime (one of the most used soil stabilizer) and 0-5-10-15-20% zeolite by weight. The three mixtures and the two best percentages determined for each mixture were then combined. Upon completing these steps, five experimental sets were prepared by combining the percentages that yielded the best results. Compaction test, percent swelling test and swelling pressure tests were performed with these datas. According to the test results, adding 14% sea shell, 6% lime and 5% zeolite by weight (SS14L6Z5) gave the smallest swelling value as 1,07% and highes swelling pressure as 23 kPa. This study concludes that the combined use of these additives led to a substantial 96% increase in swelling pressure, along with a marked reduction in swelling potential.

Keywords

Swelling soils, soil stabilization, swelling pressure, swelling percentage, seashell, lime, zeolite

Ethical Statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Project Number

1

References

• Scalia, J., Taher, Z., J and Bareither, C., A., Comparative assessment of expansive soil stabilization by commercially available polymers, Transportation Geotechnics, 24: 2214-3912, 2020.
• Popescu, M., E., A Comparison between the Behaviour of Swelling and of Collapsing Soils, Engineering Geology, 23: 145-163, 1986.,
• El-Sohby, M. A. and Mazen, O., Mineralogy and Swelling of Expansive Clayey Soils, 1983.
• Meshram, K., Singh, N. and Jain, P., K., Estimation of swelling characteristics of expansive soils with influence of clay mineralogy, Acta Agrıculturae Scandınavıca, Sectıon B — Soıl & Plant Scıence, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1080/09064710.2021.1872696.
• Al-Swaidani, A., Hammoud, I. and Meziab, A., Effect of adding natural pozzolana on geotechnical properties of lime-stabilized clayey soil, Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, 8: 714-725, 2016.
• Ingles, O., G. and Metcalf, J., B., Soil Stabilization, John Wiley&Sons, New York. 1973.
• Çalık, Ü., Perlitin Puzolanik Katkı Olarak Kireç ile Birlikte Zemin Stabilizasyonunda Kullanımı, Doctoral Thesis, Karadeniz Technical University, Institute of Science and Technology, Trabzon, 2012.
• Indiramma, P., Sudharani, C., H. and Needhidasan, S., Utilization Of Fly Ash And Lime To Stabilize The Expansive Soil And To Sustain Pollution Free Environment, Materials Today: Proceedings, 22: 694 –700, 2019.
• Cokca, E., Use of class c fly ashes for the stabilization of an expansive soil, J. Geotech. Geo Environ. Eng., 2001. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)1090-0241(2001)127:7(568)
• Kazemıkhosrowshahı, S., Stabılızatıon Of Expansıve Soıl Usıng Copolymer, Homopolymer Polypropylene, Fly Ash And Lım,. M.Sc. Thesıs, İ.T.Ü., Graduate School Of Scıence Engıneerıng And Technology, İstanbul, 2014.
• Rambabu, T., Rambabu, P., Prasad, R. and Indraja, P., Experimental Investigations on Expansive Soils Grouted with Additives, Advancements in Unsaturated Soil Mechanics, 127–141, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-34206-7_10.
• Taki, K., Choudhary, S., Gupta, S. and Kumar, M., Enhancement of geotechnical properties of municipal sewage sludge for sustainable utilization as engineering construction material, Journal of Cleaner Production, 251:0959-6526, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.119723.
• Pourakbar, S., Asadi, A., Huat, B., B. and Fasihnikoutalab, M., H., Soil stabilisation with alkali-activated agro-waste, Environ Geotech., 2:359–370, 2015.
• GuhaRay, A., Syed, M. and Kar, A., Stabilization of Expansive Clayey Soil with Alkali Activated Binders, Geotech Geol Eng., 2020. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10706-020-01461-9.
• Mallela, J., Harold, V., Quintus, P. and Smith, K., L., Consideration of lime-stabilized layers inmechanistic-empirical pavement design, The National Lime Association, USA, 2004.
• Al-Mukhtar, M., Khattab, S. and Alcover, J. F., Microstructure and geotechnical properties of lime-treated expansive clayey soil, J Eng Geol., 139:17–27, 2012.
• Jha, A., K. and Sivapullaiah, P., V., Susceptibility Of strength development by lime in gypsiferous soil-a micro mechanistic study, Appl Clay Sci., 115:39–50, 2015.
• Chandran, G. and Soman, K., Heave control and strengthening of expansive soil using lime mixed GGBS column, Int. J. Eng. Res. Technol. (IJERT), 5(8):469-474, 2016
• Taşçı, G., Problemli Kil Zeminin Geoteknik Özelliklerine Silis Dumanı ve Kireç Katkısının Etkisi, Master's Thesis, Eskişehir Osmangazi University, Institute of Science and Technology, Eşkişehir, 2011.
• Mounika, K., Narayana, B., Manohar, D. and Vardhan, K., Influence Of Sea Shells Powder On Black Cotton Soıl Durıng Stabılızatıon, International Journal of Advances in Engineering & Technolog, 7, 5: 1476-1482, 2014.
• Patel, A. and Mishr, C., B., Performance of Seashell Powder on Sub-grade Soil Stabilization, Kalpa Publications in Civil Engineering. 1: 150-156, 2017.
• Akimkhan, A. M., Structural and ion-exchange properties of natural Zeolite, In: Ion exchange technologies, InTech UK: 262-282, 2012.
• Sharo, A., Shaqour, F. and Ayyad, J., M., Maximizing Strength of CKD – Stabilized Expansive Clayey Soil Using Natural Zeolite, Geotechnical Engineering, 1226-7988, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12205-021-0786-2.
• Turkoz, M. and Vural, P., The effects of cement and natural zeolite additives on problematic clay soils, Science and Engineering of Composite Materials, 20(4):395-405, 2013. https://doi.org/10.1515/secm-2012-0104.
• Miao, S., Shen, Z., Wang, X., Luo, F., Huang, X. and Wei, C., Stabilization of highly expansive black cotton soils by means of geopolymerisation, J Mater Civ Eng. 29(10):04017170., 2017.
• Lu, Z., She, J., Duan, Y., Yao, H. and Liu, L., Experimental study on the engineering properties of expansive soil treated with Al13, Scientific Reports, 10:13930, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-70947-6.
• Bisanal, M. and Badiger, R., Study on Stabilization of Soil Using Sea Shell and Bitumen Emulsion, International Journal of Innovative Research in Science. Engineering and Technology, 4, 7: 5875-5882, 2015.
• Turkoz, M. and Öztürk, O., Effect of silica fume on the undrained strength parameters of dispersive soils, Turkish Journal of Engineering, 6(4); 293-299, 2022.
• Özkan, İ., and Çokça, O., The Investigation of the Addition of Sodium Lignosulfonate to Lime Column Used For Improving the Expansive Soils, Turkish Journal of Engineering, 770, 135-152, 2023. https://doi.org/10.18400/tjce.1209185.
• Ertuğrul, Ö., L., and Canoğulları, F., D., An investigation on the geomechanical properties of fiber reinforced cohesive soils, Turkish Journal of Engineering, 5(1); 15-19, 2021.
• Narmandakh, D., Butscher, C., Ardejani, F., D., Yang, H., Nagel, T., and Taherdangkoo, R., The use of feed-forward and cascade-forward neural networks to determine swelling potential of clayey soils, Computers and Geotechnics, 157, 105319, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compgeo.2023.105319
• Özkan, İ., and Yenginar, Y., Improvement Of Hıgh Plastıcıty Clay By Usıng Fılter Sludge, Konya Journal of Engineering Sciences, 11(4), 973-985, 2023.
• Bell, F., G., Lime Stabilization of Clay Minerals and Soils, Engineering Geology, 42, 223-237, 1996.