Mud flood as a suitable material for subgrade layer of low traffic volume

Abstract

This paper describes a research carried out to identify the basic properties of mud flood soil and the efficiency of SH-85 stabilizer to improve the unconfined compressive strength of the soil. Based on the soil classification test conducted, mud flood soil can be classified as a fine grained soil and grouped as sandy lean clay. Unconfined Compressive Strength (UCS) test were carried out on untreated and treated soils sample with respect to different curing periods of 3 days, and 7 days. Based on the UCS analysis, 10% of SH-85 stabilized with 7days cured sample was the optimum dosage to achieve the minimum required strength of 0.8MPa as a suitable material for subgrade layer of low traffic volume. FESEM and EDAX analysis were carried out on the optimum strength of mud flood sample to investigate the microstructure of the soil. The result indicates that formation of new cementitious products filled the pore space in the soil structure after the sample being treated with 10% of SH-85 stabilizer (optimum dosage). These chemical reaction takes place on the mud flood sample improved the soil strength.