Empirical Relationships with Unconfined Compressive Strength and Split Tensile Strength for the Long Term of a Lime-Treated Silty Soil

• Published in: Journal of materials in civil engineering 2018-08, Vol.30 (8)
• Main Authors: Baldovino, Jair Arrieta, Moreira, Eclesielter Batista, Izzo, Ronaldo Luis dos Santos, Rose, Juliana Lundgren
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Building materials; Civil engineering; Compressive strength; Curing; Fine-grained soils; Lime soil stabilization; Moisture content; Pavement construction; Soil bearing capacity; Soil improvement; Soil lime; Soil mixtures; Soil porosity; Soil stabilization; Technical Note; Technical Notes; Tensile strength
• ISSN: 0899-1561; 1943-5533
• DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)MT.1943-5533.0002378

AbstractFine-grained soils have a low load-bearing capacity that hinders their use in pavement construction, slope protection, or foundation support. Therefore, the chemical stabilization of a soil with the addition of lime is a viable technique that could enable its use in civil construction. Unconfined compressive strength (UCS) and split tensile strength tests were performed to evaluate the improvement of a soil with lime and the existing correlation between these two tests. This study aims to determine the empirical relationships between the split tensile strength (qt) and UCS (qu) of a silty soil artificially cemented with hydrated lime (L). To calculate the qt/qu ratio, soil–lime specimens are molded by controlling the dry unit weight, lime content, porosity, and water content, followed by curing for 15, 30, 60, 90, and 180 days. The voids/lime relationship determined by the porosity/volumetric lime content ratio (η/Lv) plays an essential role in this study, and it is the principal parameter used to assess the increases in qt and qu and determine their empirical relationship. The results demonstrate that qt/qu=0.16 for all curing times (15–180 days), so that it is an overall constant relationship (qt/qu). Moreover, with the addition of 9% lime, maximum resistances of qt (700 kPa) and qu (3,750 kPa) are obtained for the soil–lime mixtures after 180 days of curing. Moreover, two dosage equations that can be used as mix design relationships are obtained to determine the qt and qu of the lime-treated soils.