The Effect of Key Parameters on the Strength of a Dispersive Soil Stabilized with Sustainable Binders

Abstract

Dispersive soils are susceptible to phenomena of internal and external erosion when in contact with relatively pure water due to its particle’s tendency to deflocculation and suspension. This problem can be addressed through the employment of calcium-based materials such as lime and/or ordinary Portland cement, which are environmental harmful materials. Hence, this paper proposes the stabilization of a dispersive soil through the employment of a binder composed by ground waste glass powder and carbide lime derived from the production of acetylene gas, two residues. Specifically, it evaluates the effect of the dry unit weight, the amount of ground glass powder, the carbide lime content and the curing period on the unconfined compressive strength of compacted soil-ground glass powder-carbide lime blends through a 2^k factorial design approach. Moreover, the dispersibility is assessed via Pinhole tests. The strength results could be successfully correlated to the adjusted porosity/binder content index and the statistical analysis revealed the great effect of the controllable variables, with the exception of the amount of carbide lime. The Pinhole tests revealed that the proposed binders suppressed the dispersibility tendency.