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Item Fatigue and Engineering Properties of Chemically Stabilized Soil for Pavements(Springer, 2013) Lekha, B.M.; Ravi Shankar, A.U.; Goutham, G.Soil stabilization is a technique to improve the weak soils and making them to meet certain requirements of the specific engineering projects. The type of soils available in Dakshina Kannada region of Karnataka State is laterite and Lithomarge clay. Its Plasticity Index is very high due to the presence of high percentage of silt and clay content. In the present investigation, an attempt is made to study the behaviour of laterite with and without adding chemicals. A chemical named Zycosoil, when added to water and mixed with soil alters its engineering properties that depend upon the type of the soil and dosage of chemical. These chemicals are liquid additives, which act on the soil to reduce the voids between soil particles and minimize adsorbed water in the soil for maximum compaction. In the present study, the effectiveness of Zycosoil in stabilizing the laterite soils of South Canara district is investigated through laboratory experiments. Various geotechnical properties are studied and correlations between different geotechnical properties and improvement in the soil properties with different percentages of chemical additions are derived. The important properties such as index properties, compaction characteristics, unconfined compressive strength parameters, California bearing ratio values and fatigue behaviour were studied. The results obtained indicate that there is an improvement in almost all properties with the addition of Zycosoil. © 2012 Indian Geotechnical Society.Item Some studies on engineering properties, problems, stabilization and ground improvement of lithomargic clays(Southeast Asian Geotechnical Society seags@ait.ac.th, 2015) Shivashankar, R.; Ravi Shankar, A.U.; Jayamohan, J.The study area for this paper is coastal Karnataka in India. The area has laterites and lateritic soils, and also a large number of sporadic lateritic hillocks. The soil stratification mainly consists of lithomargic clay sandwiched between the weathered laterite at top and the hard granitic gneiss underneath. Quite often the top laterites are removed in this area for use as bricks for construction purposes, thus exposing the underlying lithomargic clay. This coastal area receives copious amount of rainfall and a lot of developmental activities are taking place. These lithomargic clays, locally called as 'shedi soils' are also used as fill material in low lying areas, very often adjacent to water bodies. These soils behave as dispersive soils and are also highly erosive. A lot of engineering problems - such as foundation problems, subgrade problems, erosion and slope stability problems are being faced due to the presence of these shedi soils. Some laboratory studies on the engineering and strength properties of these lithomargic clays and stabilized soils, Ground Improvement on shedi grounds are made and reported.Item Use of Stabilized Lateritic and Black Cotton Soils as a Base Course Replacing Conventional Granular Layer in Flexible Pavement(Springer, 2020) Amulya, S.; Ravi Shankar, A.U.The present work investigates the improved properties of lateritic and black cotton soils stabilized with ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) and alkali solutions. The alkali solution includes a mixture of sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate. The lateritic and black soils are treated with 30% GGBFS and the alkali solutions consisting of 6% Na2O having silica modulus (Ms) of 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 at a constant water binder ratio of 0.25. The treated samples were air-cured for 0 (immediately after casting), 3, 7 and 28 days at ambient temperature. The treated lateritic soil with 0.5 and 1.0 Ms is found durable after 3, 7, and 28 days curing. Whereas, the treated BC soil found durable with Ms 0.5 at modified Proctor density after 28 days curing. The formation of calcium silicate hydrate and calcium aluminosilicate hydrate structures resulted in a remarkable improvement of compressive strength, flexure and fatigue life of treated soils due to dissolved calcium ions from GGBFS, silicate and aluminium ions from alkali solutions. The microstructure image of the durable soil sample shows the crystal orientation of particles. The design of high and low volume roads is proposed by replacing the conventional granular layer with the durable stabilized soil and stress–strain analysis is carried out using pavement analysis software. © 2020, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.Item Replacement of Conventional Base Course with Stabilized Lateritic Soil Using Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag and Alkali Solution in the Flexible Pavement Construction(Springer, 2020) Amulya, S.; Ravi Shankar, A.U.The use of cement/chemical-treated base and sub-bases is widely recommended in the pavement construction. Therefore, this paper investigates the behaviour of stabilized lateritic soil as a base course in flexible pavement by replacing the granular base course. The lateritic soil was stabilized with 25% Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GGBFS) along with the alkali solutions such as sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate at a varying sodium oxide (Na2O) contents of 4, 5 and 6%, silica modulus (Ms, a ratio of silica to sodium oxide) of 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 and a constant water binder ratio (w/b) of 0.25. The maximum compressive strengths of 5452 and 6593 kPa were achieved for a treated sample consisting of 6% Na2O and 1.0 Ms cured for 28 days at the light and heavy compactions, respectively, which is due to the formation of calcium silicate hydrates when calcium oxide-rich GGBFS reacts with water. Further with the curing period results in an increase in strength due to the formation of calcium alumino-silicate hydrates when GGBFS reacts with alkali solutions. The durability of the samples was evaluated by wetting–drying and freezing–thawing tests. The samples passing the required durability criteria were tested for flexural strength and fatigue life. Scanning electron microscope images showed closely packed crystal orientation indicating high strength. Low and high volume pavements were designed using stabilized soil as a base course, and the strains were evaluated using pavement analysis software. It is suggested that the conventional granular base layer can be replaced with the stabilized soil. © 2020, Indian Geotechnical Society.Item Stabilisation of lithomargic clay using alkali activated fly ash and ground granulated blast furnace slag(Taylor and Francis Ltd. michael.wagreich@univie.ac.at, 2020) Amulya, A.; Ravi Shankar, A.U.; Praveen, M.A suitable ground improvement technique is essential in order to confront the problems associated with lithomargic clay for road construction. The efficacy of alkaline solutions such as sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate along with class F fly ash and Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GGBS) as additives to improve the properties of lithomargic clay is examined. The different mixes are prepared by replacing the soil with 20%, 30%, and 40% of GGBS and fly ash. The Maximum Dry Density (MDD) obtained from the soil replaced with 40% GGBS and for the soil replaced with 30% fly ash. An activator modulus of 1.25 is kept constant for the varying sodium oxide dosage at 2, 3 and 4 per cent. The Unconfined Compressive Strength (UCS) of the alkali-activated soil cured for 3, 7 and 28 days is determined and compared with the UCS of the soil replaced with fly ash and GGBS at both standard and modified proctor densities. The different mixes are tested for the durability, California Bearing Ratio (CBR). The soil is replaced with GGBS and fly ash does not pass the durability test while the alkali-activated mixes with 4% sodium oxide dosage is found to be durable. © 2018, © 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.Item Utilization of lateritic soil stabilized with alkali solution and ground granulated blast furnace slag as a base course in flexible pavement construction(Springer, 2020) Amulya, A.; Ravi Shankar, A.U.; Singh, A.; Pammar, K.H.The natural aggregates are depleting in developing countries due to the excessive usage in road and building construction. In the present study, the engineering properties of abundantly available lateritic soil stabilized with Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GGBS) and alkali solutions like Sodium hydroxide and Sodium silicate was evaluated. The suitability of stabilized soil as a base course in flexible pavements was investigated. The lateritic soil was treated with 15, 20, 25 and 30% of GGBS and alkali solutions consisting of 5% of Sodium oxide with Silica Modulus (Ms) of 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 at a constant water binder ratio of 0.25. The improved unconfined compressive strength, flexural strength, and fatigue life were observed from the soil treated with 30% of GGBS and alkali solution having Ms 1.0 air-cured for 28 days at ambient temperature. The improvement is due to the formation of Calcium Silicate Hydrates and Calcium Alumino Silicate Hydrates from an exothermic reaction between Calcium ions and the dissolved silicates and aluminates present in GGBS and alkali solutions. The samples treated with 25, 30% of GGBS and alkali solution having 1.0 Ms cured for 28 days found to be durable in Wetting-Drying and Freezing-Thawing tests. The compact and densified crystal orientation of the treated soil samples was observed from the microstructure images obtained from the Scanning Electron Microscope technique. The design of low and high volume roads was suggested with stabilized soil and strains developed at different locations on the proposed pavement were analyzed using pavement analysis software. © 2020, Chinese Society of Pavement Engineering. Production and hosting by Springer Nature.Item Strength and Durability Characteristics of Cement and Class F Fly Ash-Treated Black Cotton Soil(Springer, 2021) Chethan, B.A.; Ravi Shankar, A.U.This paper analyses improvement of the strength and durability characteristics of black cotton (BC) soil treated with cement and Class F fly ash for pavements. The increase in cement dosage (3–14%) improved the UCS, but the specimens could not resist WD durability cycles. In order to improve, industrial by-product Class F fly ash was used in addition to the cement. Different combinations of cement (10, 12, and 14%) and fly ash (10, 15, 20, 25, and 30%) replacements were evaluated for strength and durability characteristics. The higher dosage of fly ash reduced the plasticity with uniform distribution of cement cluster formations, leading to higher UCS. The soil mixes with (cement + fly ash) stabilizer combinations (10 + 30), (12 + 30), (14 + 25), (14 + 30) were stable against WD test with soil loss < 14%. Mix with (14 + 25) stabilizer showed a maximum retained UCS of 3.6 MPa at 2.9% moisture content (MC) after 12 WD cycles. However, most of the mixes showed high resistance to the FT test. The retained UCS of FT tested specimens was more due to low variations in moisture content. Mix with (14 + 30) stabilizer showed a maximum retained UCS of 2.6 MPa at 23.3% MC after 12 FT cycles. The soil samples with high cement and fly ash contents, with 90 days curing, can exhibit significant strength and more resistance to WD and FT cycles with soil loss < 14%. After drying, severe damage to WD specimens was observed due to the drastic absorption of water during the wetting cycle. Durable samples showed good plunger penetration resistance with an expansion of < 2%. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images showed the formations of cemented interclusters. CSH formed resulted in strength improvement, as observed from XRD patterns. The 7 days cured WD specimens did not exhibit any volume expansion on soaking, thawing in water. A maximum volumetric shrinkage of 3.2% on drying and 1.91% on freezing was observed for stabilized soil. Hence, the stronger and durable stabilized soil mixes with high volume stability can be used for pavements. © 2021, Indian Geotechnical Society.Item Effect of Flash Flood and Weather Changes on Unconfined Compressive Strength of Cement- and Fly Ash-Stabilized Black Cotton Soil Used as Road Materials(Springer, 2023) Chethan, B.A.; Ravi Shankar, A.U.Stabilized soil naturally undergoes variation in moisture content and temperature during seasonal weather changes. In this investigation, the influence of these weather changes on unconfined compressive strength (UCS) of black cotton (BC) soil stabilized with ordinary Portland cement (43 grade) and class F fly ash was studied. Cement dosage was varied from 3 to 10%, along with different combined dosages of (cement + fly ash) (where fly ash < 32%) for stabilizing various mixes. The UCS specimens were cured for 0 (immediately after preparation) 3, 7, 28, 60, and 90 days in a desiccator and subsequently submerged for 24 h in water to ensure saturation. The flash flood effect was evaluated in terms of strength reduction by correlating UCS of saturated specimens (UCSs) with UCS of desiccator-cured specimens. The stabilized materials’ resistance to wetting–drying (WD), freezing–thawing (FT) durability tests and subsequent UCS retained over time were determined. The UCS values increased substantially at higher cement and fly ash contents and with the curing period, whereas a notable reduction in UCSs values was observed for saturated samples. However, the samples with high cement and fly ash contents exhibited low moisture susceptibility with lesser strength reduction. The UCS and UCSs values are linearly correlated with R2 values > 0.9. All the specimens were intact with improved volume stability at higher cement and fly ash dosages during saturation and drying. Mixes with high cement and fly ash dosages shown improved resistance to WD cycles, whereas at a low dosage, most of the mixes failed during the second wetting cycle due to a drastic absorption of water after the first drying cycle. All FT specimens were intact with considerable strength retained after 12 cycles exhibiting a minimal mass loss. The formation of hydration products has justified the strength gain as observed from scanning electron microscope (SEM) images, energy dispersive X-Ray analysis (EDAX), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) plots. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Chinese Society of Pavement Engineering.Item Investigations on Bio-enzyme Stabilized Pavement Subgrades of Lateritic, Lithomargic and Blended Soils(Springer, 2023) Marathe, S.; Ravi Shankar, A.U.The pavement is a structure, which is laid to support the wheel load and to spread the load stress to a wider area on the top of the soil subgrade. The process of changing the engineering properties of natural soil, to improve its strength, bearing capacity and other engineering properties by the addition of suitable stabilizer and admixture is collectively known as stabilization of soil. It is very much essential to improve the soil strength, bearing capacity and other engineering properties to sustain the loads acting on the pavement. By modifying the subgrade soil properties, the crust thickness of the pavement reduces. This paper focuses on the effect of TerraZyme stabilization on three types of major soils available in the coastal Karnataka region. The study deals with the improvement in the engineering properties of these soils after subjecting to TerraZyme chemical stabilization. Initially, tests were carried out to study the mechanical properties like compaction, permeability, unconfined compressive strength (UCS) and California Bearing Ratio (CBR value). Further, the effect additions of TerraZyme chemical in various dosages to soil were observed in terms of their modified proctor compaction, UCS and CBR values. The curing effect on UCS and CBR was investigated. The structural design of pavement for the high-volume roads (as per IRC:37-2018) is proposed by strengthening the conventional subgrade soil layer with TerraZyme and the pavement analysis is carried out. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Chinese Society of Pavement Engineering.