Geotechnical Alterations and Potential Effects in PFA and Micro-Silica-Stabilized Sand-Cement Blends Assessed Using UCS and CBR Standards (Research Paper Sample)

GEOTECHNICAL ALTERATIONS AND POTENTIAL EFFECTS IN PFA AND MICRO-SILICA-STABILIZED SAND-CEMENT BLENDS ASSESSED USING UCS AND CBR STANDARDS
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Geotechnical Alterations and Potential Effects in PFA and Micro-Silica-Stabilized Sand-Cement Blends Assessed Using UCS and CBR Standards
Introduction
The controlled and structured process of soil stabilization promotes improvement of texture and physico-mechanical structures of soil. Such physical and chemical interventions render soil precisely suitable for use as a strong and stable construction material. Physical soil stabilization is at the forefront of conventional materials engineering; fundamentally, it involves modifying particulate distribution within the soil structure through addition of differently composed soils to alter physical performance (Hall, Najim, & KeiKhaei 2012). Ansary and Islam (2007: 443) note that soil stabilization aims at increasing structural strength of soil, reducing compressibility, improving expansion and squeezing characteristics, and promoting soil durability.
Advances in geotechnical engineering have developed alternatives to less-usable soil variants with the objective of promoting low-cost engineering fabrications and sustainable environmental conservancies. Da Fonseca, Cruz, and Consoli (2009: 681) illustrate these prospects by citing improvement of granular bases in road construction and low bearing capacity soils with Portland cement. Establishing geotechnical properties in soil-cement mixtures is imperative because of the complex nature and behavior attributed by factors such as physical and chemical structure, the proportion of cement used, and overall hydration and porosity during compaction. Isolated research points to a significant correlation between the unconfined compressive strength of sand-cement blends and the ratio of pores to particles in lime treated mortars.