Stabilization of desert sand in Iran using cement and microsilice

Abstract

Increasing the bearing capacity of the soil is necessary. The role of cement and microsilice in stabilizing the sand obtained from the desert city Kashan is studied. Experiments are conducted to find the optimum proportion of the additives and to examine the effects of the additives on the mechanical properties of the sand. The results on compressive strength, tensile strength and shear strength are presented. It is found that the mechanical properties of the sand is considerably improved using the cement in combination with microsilice. The compressive strength, tensile strength and shear strength is considerably increased by stabilizing the sand with the selected additives. Furthermore, it is observed that the sand stabilized with the optimum proportion of the additives successfully pass the durability test. Moreover, the addition of both cement and microsilice evidenced to have profound effect on stabilization and strength than the incorporation of only cement as additive.