Strength properties of cement stabilized clay soil

Abstract

Soil stabilization in the broadest sense is the alteration of any property of a soil to improve its engineering performance. The chief factors affecting the quality of soilcement are soil type, cement content, compaction and method of mixing. Of these the soil type is by far the most important factor since, if it is unsuitable, little can be done to make the soil-cement satisfactory. The solutions of many geotechnical issues for construction are very much directly or indirectly related to the understanding of the problematic soils. Soft clay soils often cause difficulties in construction operation with their low strength and low stiffness nature. However the engineering properties of these clay soils can be enhanced by adding ordinary Portland cement (OPC) for modification or stabilization purposes. This paper describes the application of the cement stabilization technique for improving the engineering properties of Malaysian clay. The overall objective of this research is to study the strength properties of cement stabilized clay soil. The quantities of cement added to the clay were 5 %, 10 % and 15 % by dry weight of the clay. In term of physical analysis, the result getting from Atterberg limit experiment shows that the soil is clay soil type and categorized as soft clay. Soft clay soil can be categorized as problematic soil. From this research clearly showed that the strength of soft clay soil is increase due to the increasing of cement content. The 15% of cement content achieved the highest strength among the others.