Wetting/drying behavior of lime and alkaline activation stabilized marine clay reinforced with modified coir fiber

Abstract

The durability of natural and treated clay soil stabilized with lime and alkaline activation (AA) affected by environmental factors (hot and humid) was determined in this study. Investigation and evaluation on the strength of the soil, moisture content, and volume change of the specimen were determined at each curing period (7, 28, and 90 days) based on the weather conditions. An unconfined compressive strength (UCS) of the specimen at three different wetting/drying cycles (one, three, and five cycles) was determined. The findings show that the strength of the treated specimens fluctuated with increment and decrement strength (one and three cycles) in the range of 1.41 to 1.88 MPa (lime) and 2.64 to 8.29 MPa (AA), while for five cycles with a curing period of 90 days the decrement was in the range of 1.62 to 1.25 MPa and 6.06 to 5.89 MPa for lime and AA, respectively. The decrement percentage for treated samples that were subjected to five cycles of wetting and drying in 90 days was found to be 20.38% (lime) and 38.64% (AA), respectively. Therefore, it can be summarized that wetting/drying cycles have a significant influence on the durability, strength, and the volume changes of the specimens.