Areca Fiber Reinforced Alkali-Activated Black Cotton Soil Using Class F Fly Ash and Limestone Powder for Pavements

Abstract

Alkali activation has gained importance in place of cement treatment in construction due to reduced CO<inf>2</inf> emissions. The precursors that are rich in silica, alumina, and calcium can be used for soil stabilization with a suitable alkali solution. In this investigation, 0–45% class F fly ash with a constant 5% limestone powder was used to stabilize black cotton soil. These mixes were reinforced with 0.5% areca fibers and stabilized using the alkali solution. Alkali solution was prepared using 8 molar NaOH solution and Na<inf>2</inf>SiO<inf>3</inf> solution with Na<inf>2</inf>SiO<inf>3</inf>/NaOH of 1.5. The use of limestone powder has favoured the quick UCS gain on 3 days of room temperature curing. Fiber reinforcement has shown a significant influence on flexural strength and fatigue life improvement. Areca fibers reinforcement has resulted in enormous resistance to plunger penetration during the unsoaked CBR test. However, on further 4 days of soaking, samples lost the bonding and exhibited low CBR. The SEM images showed the compact microstructure of the set mix. The formation of cementitious products is evident from the XRD micrograms due to the dissolution of silica, alumina, calcium, and other compounds by the alkali solution. When subjected to wetting–drying and freezing–thawing durability tests, the set mixes were failed due to leaching of mineral constituents and further breaking of soil structure. Even though stabilized specimens exhibited significant strength improvement in dry conditions, they are unsuitable in wet conditions. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.