Enhancement of Mechanical Properties of Expansive Clayey Soil Using Steel Slag

Abstract

Dumping wastes from industries and respective by-products have become a serious issue nowadays due to less dumping sites and stringent environmental regulations. Which caught the attention of the many researchers working in the field of Environmental Geotechnical engineering. Steel slag a by-product of steel making industry which is long been used in various applications in the construction industry. It is used as aggregates in road construction, railway ballast, and hydraulic protection structures but the use of steel slag in the soil stabilization is a modern approach. The focus of this research is to study the effect of steel slag on strength characteristics of the clayey soil. The steel slag is blended with clayey soil at 10%, 15%, 20%, 25% and 30% of dry weight. The optimum content of steel slag was obtained based on the maximum unconfined compressive strength. Series of laboratory tests were performed on the optimum mix to evaluate its suitability as a stabilizer material. The tests were also conducted with conventional stabilizing materials with clayey soil and the optimum mix to compare the results. Soil-slag treated with 5% lime mix and 10% fly ash yielded much improvement as compared to a soil-slag mix.