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    Experimental Studies on Lateritic Soil Stabilized with Cement, Coir and Aggregate
    (Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH info@springer-sbm.com, 2021) Ravi Shankar, A.U.R.; Priyanka, B.A.; Avinash
    The characteristics of subgrade soil play a vital role in designing the pavement structure so that the pavement has required support from the bottom layer. During adverse weather conditions and higher traffic loads moving on any pavement, it should be able to withstand the impact and perform well for longer duration. Load is transmitted from pavement to the subgrade layer and distributed evenly through the soil particles. All types of soil are not capable of handling such impacts by their own and needs additional stabilization processes. Several stabilization processes are available in which the best one has to be taken into consideration. Fibers such as coconut coir are important in giving extra stability to the soil particles. Cement is well-known material in construction sector along with aggregates. Lateritic soil is available abundantly in coastal areas of southern parts of India which has porous structure and demands stabilization when the intended purpose is specific and requires higher strength and durability. In this study, coconut coir along with cement and aggregate are taken as stabilization materials to stabilize lateritic soil. Initially, basic properties of soil like plastic limit, liquid limit and plasticity index are determined. Grain size analysis is done and modified Proctor test is conducted to determine the optimum moisture content (OMC) and maximum dry density (MDD) of the soil. Unconfined compression test (UCS), California bearing ratio test (CBR), flexural fatigue analysis, durability properties with respect to wet-dry cycles and freeze–thaw cycles are evaluated for untreated and treated soil specimen. As per UCS values, cement can be taken at an optimum dosage of 6%. The coir fibers from natural husk of coconut and aggregates of 10 mm below size were added to the soil–cement mixes and an optimum dosage of coir and aggregate is determined. The study showed positive results in terms of CBR values of cement-aggregate treated soil. © 2021, Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
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    Laboratory Investigation of Lateritic Soil Stabilized with Arecanut Coir Along with Cement and Its Suitability as a Modified Subgrade
    (Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH, 2023) Chethan, B.A.; Lekha, B.M.; Ravi Shankar, A.U.
    If a pavement is constructed on weak soil, its lifespan drastically reduces due to the low strength induced by moisture-induced destresses. Such soils may undergo considerable changes in volume. In order to modify these properties, soil stabilization can be done. By stabilizing the soil along with the improvement in strength, its durability can be increased. Stabilization may be of chemical or mechanical type. In this investigation, lateritic soil was stabilized using 0.2–1% arecanut coir, and its compaction characteristics were evaluated. The lateritic soil is found to be nondurable. The reinforcement alone could not improve the strength and durability effectively. Therefore, 3% binding agent ordinary Portland cement (43 grade) was added to the mix. Due to cement stabilization, UCS and CBR values were improved, and the optimum values were observed at 0.6% arecanut coir dosage. The addition of cement has resulted in a change in silica, alumina, and calcium oxide contents, thereby contributing to the formation of hydration products. The samples with 1% coir and cement have completed 12 wet–dry cycles, but the weight loss observed was >14%. All the specimens showed low soil loss under freeze–thaw cycles. The performance of cured specimens under fatigue loading was satisfactory. Since the specimens could not pass wet–dry durability criteria, they can be considered for modified subgrade. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
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    PFWD, DCP and CBR correlations for evaluation of lateritic subgrades
    (2009) George, V.; Rao, N.C.; Shivashankar, R.
    The evaluation of subgrade strength plays a major role in pavement design. An understanding of subgrade properties enables the selection of road materials for sub-base and base courses. In developing countries like India, apart from the use of well-established traditional pavement evaluation techniques such as the California bearing ratio (CBR) test and the dynamic cone penetrometer (DCP) test, the use of non-destructive testing devices such as the portable falling weight deflectometers (PFWDs) has gained popularity in recent years. This is mainly because of the inherent capability of PFWDs in obtaining quick estimates of the modulus of subgrade in addition to their simplicity in design and portability. Thus, there exists a need to correlate the results obtained using PFWDs with those obtained using traditional approaches such as the CBR and the DCP for the benefit of road engineers. This work focuses on exploring the correlations between these approaches for lateritic soils in Dakshina Kannada district, India.
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    Effect of Electrolyte Lignin and Fly Ash in Stabilizing Black Cotton Soil
    (Springer US, 2015) Lekha, B.M.; Goutham, G.; Ravi Shankar, A.U.
    Subgrade is one of the important layers of any pavement. It must be able to support loads transmitted from pavement structure without excessive deformation under adverse climatic and traffic conditions. In this investigation, laboratory studies were carried out to evaluate the influence of a commercial electrolyte lignin stabilizer (ELS), fly ash (FA) and a combination of both, on black cotton (BC) soil procured from North Karnataka region in India. Basic geotechnical and engineering properties like unconfined compressive strength (UCS), California bearing ratio (CBR), etc. were determined for both untreated and treated soil. Dynamic repeated load test was conducted to examine the fatigue behaviour of the soil. Durability of the soil was checked by wet-dry (WD) and freeze-thaw (FT) cycle tests, and swelling properties by free swell index test. From the studies, it was observed that consistency limits, dry density, UCS and CBR values were improved for treated soil, with curing periods of 1, 7 and 28 days. Weight loss in FT test was less than 14 % for 12 cycles, which ensures that the stabilized soil has become durable. But none of the samples were observed to be withstanding above five cycles in wet-dry test. Soil stabilized with ELS and FA showed better results compared to soil with only ELS. Swelling was reduced to a great extent with 28 days curing period for the former one. From the experimental results, it can be concluded that this chemical can be used as a stabilizer for existing BC soil in site to enhance its subgrade strength. © 2015, Springer New York.