EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION FOR STABILIZATION OF BLACK COTTON SOIL BY

USING LIME AND BRICKDUST WASTE

VAKKAPATLA LAXMI DURGA1, DR. D.S.V. PRASAD2

1
Mtech Scholar, 2Professor & Principal
Department Of Civil Engineering
Bonam Venkata Chalamayya Engineering College, Odalarevu, Andhra Pradesh, India.

Abstract: The objective of this project is to stabilize the Black Cotton soil (BC Soil) as it is proved to be
the poorest soil among all soils and also it is an expansive soil. Expansive soils are avoided from using
in pavement construction. If used, it will damage the pavements adversely when compared to other soils.
Thus, worldwide these soils are considered to be problematic soils and pose several challenges for
engineers. So, as to utilize these soils in an effective way, proper treatment to the soil is required.
Stabilization of soils is an effective method for improvement of soil properties and the pavement system
performance. With the same intention, an attempt is made to modify engineering properties of black
cotton soils collected in Visakhapatnam city, Andhra Pradesh, India by using demolished structure
materials such as brick powder waste and Lime. An experiment investigation is carried out to study the
effect of brick powder and lime on engineering and strength properties of the black cotton soils. The
properties of stabilized soil such as Waterberg limits, compaction characteristics and California bearing
ratio and their variations with content of brick powder and lime were evaluated. Laboratory studies to
investigate the possibility of utilizing brick powder and lime as stabilizing materials to improve the
engineering properties of black cotton soil was carried out. Black cotton soil is classified as A-7-5 in
accordance with HRB soil classification system. The results obtained show that the moisture density
relationship follows a trend of decreasing optimum moisture content (OMC) and increasing maximum
dry density (MDD) is the modified proctor test. The CBR value of BC soil obtained was only 1% and
this low strength value is improved to minimum requirement of 8% CBR according to IRC: 37-2012.
Test results indicate that CBR value of soil increases with increase in BP and lime content. Addition of
optimum percentage of brick powder (50%) and optimum percentage of lime (4%) and optimum
percentage of its combination (30%+1.5%) to the Black Cotton Soil has improved the strength
characteristics BC soil 8% CBR. Thus, the significant increase in CBR value of soil stabilized with BP,
lime and BP + Lime will substantially reduce the thickness of the pavement sub grade.

Keywords: Black Cotton soil, Demolition Brick Masonry waste, Lime, Soil Classification, CBR.
I. INTRODUCTION
The quality and the life of the pavement are greatly affected by the type of sub grade, sub-base, and base
course materials. Sub grade is the integral part of the road pavement structure; it provides the support to
the pavement from beneath. The sub grade soil and its properties are important in the design of
pavement structure. The main function of the sub grade is to provide adequate support to the pavement
and for this the sub grade should possess sufficient stability under adverse climate and loading
condition. The properties of the soil sub grade are important in deciding the thickness requirement of
pavements. A sub grade soil with lower stability requires thicker pavement to protect it from traffic

DOI: 10.23883/IJRTER.2017.3422.QGI2I 11
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loads. India is confronted with the colossal test of protecting and upgrading the transportation
framework to meet the constantly expanding hassles because of heavier burdens delivering layers to the
hidden soil. Soil is the essential component of this nature and road development industry knows the
significance of it for pavement work. Soil is defined as sediments or other accumulation of mineral
particles produced by the physical or chemical disintegration of rocks plus the air, water, organic matter
and other substances that may be included. Soil is typically a non-homogeneous, porous, earthen
material whose engineering behavior is influenced by changes on moisture content and density.

Black cotton soils are highly clayey soil gray or blackish in colour. “Black cotton soil is commonly
known as Expansive soil because of their colour and their suitability for growing cotton. They contain
‘montmorillonite’ clay mineral which has high expansive characteristics. BC soils have low shrinkage
limit and high optimum moisture content. It is highly sensitive to moisture changes, compressible sub
grade material. Problems associated with pavement construction become more critical when the sub
grade consists of expansive soils. In India, expansive soils cover about 0.8x106 Km2 areas,
approximately one fifth of its surface area. Hence the sub grade and its undesirable characteristics can be
modified using a suitable stabilization technique. Stabilization involves the methods used for modifying
the properties of a soil to improve its engineering performance. In the construction of road and airfield
prevents, the main objective of stabilization is to increase the strength or stability of soil and to reduce
the construction cost by making best use of the locally available materials.

From the recent studies it is observed that, solid waste materials such as masonry waste (Brick powder)
are used for this intended purpose. Disposal of these waste materials is essential as these are causing
hazardous effects on the environment. This may found to be an economical treatment method for soils as
these materials are available locally and such solution will definitely found beneficial for the developing
countries like India where economy is the prime concern for adopting any new method or technique.
Lime has been widely used either as a modifier for clayey soil or as a binder. When clayey soils with
high plasticity are treated with lime, the plasticity index is decreased and soil becomes friable and easy
to be pulverized, having less affinity with water. Lime also imports some binding action.

II. OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

 To study the properties of black cotton soil.
 Classifying the soil using different system of classification.
 To study the changes in properties of black cotton soil by adding lime and brick powder.
 To improve the CBR of the black cotton soil to 8% as per IRC 37-2012.
 To find out optimum amount of Brick Powder and Lime required for improvement in CBRupto 8%
of black cotton soil.

III. MATERIALS AND METHODS

A. Soil
The soil used in this study was collected from the site of Shankar Mansion Layout, Visakhapatnam,
Andhra Pradesh, India. The various index properties and compaction properties (maximum dry density
and optimum moisture content) and CBR value of soil were determined in the laboratory which is given
in Table No.1. The grain size distribution curve of soil is shown in Fig.No.1.

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B. Demolition Brick Masonry Waste

Masonry waste mainly consists of cement mortar and burnt brick. But for the experimental purpose only
bricks are considered excluding the cement mortar. Brick Masonry waste is brought from a demolished
house near Dwarakanagar, 4th lain, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India.

C. Lime
Lime is the common name of chemical calcium oxide which is available in white powder form and
comes from the heating of calcium carbonate. Use of lime with increased percentage in BC Soil was
examined for stabilization purpose and the result was evaluated.

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Fig. No.1: Particle Size Distribution Curve of Soil

D.Test Procedure
Three types of soil samples were prepared for CBR test as per standard procedure [IS: 2720 (Part 16) –
1987].
1. Black cotton soil + Brick powder
2. Black cotton soil + Lime
3. Black cotton soil + Brick powder + Lime

The soil samples are prepared by replacing the Black cotton soil with additives like brick powder and
lime in varying percentage. The desired amount of air dried soil was taken in a tray. This soil was mixed
with water corresponding to its optimum moisture content (OMC). The CBR mould having 150 mm
diameter and 175 mm high with detachable perforated base plate. This mould was filled with 5 layers of
the soil and each layer was compacted to its maximum dry density obtained by laboratory Modified
Proctor test [IS: 2720 (Part 8) – 1983]. Compaction is done by applying 55 numbers of evenly
distributed blows using 4.89 Kg rammer. After compaction of the last layer, the collar was removed and
excess soil was trimmed off by means of straight edge. The mould with compacted soil was weighed.
The mould with compacted soil is inverted and placed over the base plate and clamps were again
tightened. The surcharge weights were placed centrally on specimen such that penetration test could be
conducted. Then the mould is placed in water tank for soaking. After 4 days the mould is taken out of
the tank and placed under the penetration plunger of loading machine. The penetration plunger was
seated and brought in contact with top surface of soil by applying a seating load of 4 Kg. The dial gauge,
proving ring were set to zero and load was applied through penetration plunger and the load readings
were noted at penetration readings of 0.0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, 7.5, 10.0 and 12.5mm in

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order wise. After final reading, load was released and mould is removed from loading machine. The
proving ring calibration factor was noted so that the load dial values can be converted to load in Kg.
Same procedure was followed by the other type of soil samples and CBR value of the samples were
calculated The formula below is to be used to determine CBR.

CBR = Unit load carried by soil sample at defined penetration level/Unit load carried by standard
crushed aggregates at above penetration level × 100

IV. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS

1. Result of Soil classification
According to Public Road Transportation Classification System (PRA System) also known as HRB
(1978) System, the soil is classified as clayey soil of grade A-7-5 and having a Group Index value of 4.5,
because the plastic limit greater than 30%. According to Unified Soil Classification System (USCS) the
soil is classified as sands with fines with group symbol SM.

2. Result of CBR test

CBR test conducted on the black cotton soil with different compositions of Brick Powder and Lime. The
CBR values obtained by the tests are given below.

A.Black Cotton Soil + Brick Powder

Table No.2 and Fig. No.2 shows the result of the CBR and Modified Proctor test conducted by replacing
the black cotton soil with brick powder. These values are tabulated and graph was plotted. The CBR
values increases with every incremental in Brick Powder. The required CBR value 8% as per IRC: 37-
2012 was obtained for 50% BC Soil with 50% Brick Powder.

Table No.I: Experimental Results Obtained for Mix Proportion of Black cotton soil with Brick powder (BP)

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Fig. No.2. Graph Shows the Effect of Brick powder on OMC, MDD and CBR of Black Cotton Soil.

B.Black Cotton Soil + Lime

Table No.3 and Fig. No.3 shows the result of the CBR and Modified Proctor test conducted by replacing
the black cotton soil with Lime. These values are tabulated and graph was plotted. The CBR values
increases with every incremental in Lime. The required CBR value 8% as per IRC: 37-2012 was
obtained for 96% BC Soil with 4% Lime.

Table No.3: Experimental Results Obtained for Mix Proportion of Black cotton soil with Lime.

C.Black Cotton Soil +Brick Powder +Lime

Table No.4 and Fig. No.4 shows the result of the CBR and Modified Proctor test conducted by replacing
the black cotton soil with Brick powder and Lime. These values are tabulated and graph was plotted.
The CBR values increases with every incremental in Brick Powder and Lime. The required CBR value
8% as per IRC: 37-2012 was obtained for 68.5% BC Soil + 30% Brick Powder + 1.5% Lime.

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Table No.4: Experimental Results Obtained for Mix Proportion of Black cotton soil
with Brick powder and Lime.

Fig. No.3. Graph Shows the Effect of Lime on OMC, MDD and CBR of Black Cotton Soil.

From the above graph we can see that the contribution of the Lime is more than the Brick Powder in
increasing the CBR value of the BC Soil. Similarly decrement in OMC and increment in MDD is more
compared to Brick Powder. As Lime is binding material it gives early strength to the soil but excess use
of the Lime leads to development of cracks in pavement. So, to reduce this effect we used Brick Powder.

Fig. No.4. Graph Shows the Effect of Brick powder and Lime on OMC, MDD and CBR of Black Cotton Soil.

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V. DISCUSSIONS
The soil is having higher G.I value, which belongs to A-7-5 subgroup as per HRB soil classification
system. According to Unified Soil classification System the soil is SM type. The co-efficient of
curvature (Cc) obtained from experiment is 4.67. The uniformity co-efficient (Cu) obtained from
experiment is 9.54, which indicates medium graded soil/sand type. This indicates a poor quality of soil
and recommends stabilization. The sand content in soils is found to be 97.5 %. Silt and clay is found to
be 2.5%. Course grained sand was found to be 33.8%, medium grained sand was found to be 38.7%, fine
grained sand was found to be 25.01%. Silty clay content is 2.5 %. The sample was tested without and
with Brick powder, lime and a mix of BP + lime with varying percentages in soaked condition. The
experimental results indicate that addition of BP and Lime significantly affects the properties of soil.The
CBR value obtained for BC Soil is 1%. By replacing the BC Soil by 10% of BP the CBR value is
increased to 2%. Thus by replacing the BC Soil by 20, 30, 40 and 50% of BP CBR value is increased to
3, 4, 7 and 8% respectively. Then the OMC of the BC soil reduced from 18.00% to 16.00% and MDD of
the soil increased from 1.842 to 1.965%.Similarly the CBR value obtained by replacing the BC Soil by
1% of Lime the CBR value is increased to 2%. Thus by replacing the BC Soil by 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 of Lime
CBR value is increased by 4, 6, 8, 11 and 14% respectively.Then the OMC of the BC soil reduced from
18.00% to 15.50% and MDD of the soil increased from1.842 to 1.950%.

The CBR value obtained by replacing the BC Soil by 30% of BP and 0.5% of lime the CBR value is
increased to 2%. Thus by replacing the BC Soil by replacing BC soil by 30% BP + 1% lime, 30% BP +
1.5% lime and 30% BP + 2% lime, the CBR value is increased to 4, 8 and 16% respectively. Thus OMC
of the BC soil reduced from 18.00% to 15.90% and MDD of the soil increased from 1.842 to 1.921%.
Finally by replacing BC soil by 30%BP and 0.5% Lime CBR value is increased by 7%. According to
IRC 37-2012 required CBR value or BC soil is 8%. Thus by replacing BC soil by 30%BP and
1.5%Lime we get the CBR value of 8%. Based on the present investigation, it has proved that the CBR
value of soil increases with the inclusion of brick powder and lime. The BC soil was having 1% CBR
which is not suitable in sub grade construction. So Black cotton soil after stabilization the required CBR
value of 8% according to IRC: 37-2012 is achieved by stabilizing with replacement of BC soil by 50%
BP, 4% lime and 30% BP + 1.5% lime. The use of demolition waste brick powder can be effectively
used in BC soil stabilization. This will results in the utilization of rejected black cotton soil in
construction.

VI. CONCLUSIONS
Based on the results obtained from the tests, the following conclusions are made:
The MDD of the selected BC soil increases and the OMC of the soils decreases with the addition of lime
as well as Brick Powder. The Increase in MDD and reduction in OMC is more with increase in the
proportion of admixtures in the soils. The results of the study show that both lime and Brick Powder are
suitable for enhancing properties of the soils. Black cotton soil after stabilization the required CBR value
of 8% according to IRC: 37-2012 is achieved by stabilizing with replacement of BC soil by 50% BP, 4%
lime and 30% BP + 1.5% lime. From the above discussion it can be concluded that the BP can
effectively utilized with BC soil in improving the soil CBR values. The use of Brick Powder resulted in
utilization of demolition wastes and found to be economical for local area. This will results in the
utilization of rejected black cotton soil in construction. From the results, it is concluded that impact of
Brick Powder and Lime is positive.

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