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Influence of nano-silica and sodium silicate on the strength characteristics of clay soil

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Abstract

The poor engineering properties of the clay soils can be enhanced by adopting suitable soil stabilizing materials. The current study is focused on clay soils treated with various dosages of nano-silica, sodium silicate and their mix proportions to enhance the strength characteristics. Laboratory investigations were carried out to evaluate the influence of nano-silica and sodium silicate on the strength characteristics of clay soils. The experimental variables used in this study were admixture type, different dosages of admixtures and curing period. Unconfined compressive (UC) strength test was conducted in the laboratory to determine the strength characteristics of treated and untreated clay soil with various admixtures. The tests results revealed that the UC strength and Young’s modulus of clay soil are improved with increasing the nano-silica and sodium silicate content. The inclusion of 6% nano-silica to the clay soil improved the UC strength by 421.99% and Young’s modulus by 515.73%. Further, the experimental results were supported by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis which confirms the presence of large particle packs and densified soil matrix for the soil samples treated with nano-silica. This approach of implementing nano-silica and sodium silicate in clay soils can be used as subbase material in road pavement constructions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, Vel Tech Rangarajan Dr. Sagunthala R&D Institute of Science and Technology, Tamil Nadu, Avadi, Chennai, 600062, India

    S. Selvakumar

  2. Department of Civil Engineering, Kongu Engineering College, Tamil Nadu, Perundurai, Erode, 638060, India

    P. Kulanthaivel

  3. Department of Civil Engineering, Bannari Amman Institute of Technology, Tamil Nadu, Sathyamangalam, Erode, 638401, India

    B. Soundara

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  1. S. Selvakumar
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  2. P. Kulanthaivel
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  3. B. Soundara
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Contributions

SS developed the theory and supervised the findings and writing original draft, review and editing. PK conceptualized the presented idea, derived the methodology, designed and performed the experiments and supported in writing original draft. BS contributed to article drafting and the final version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to S. Selvakumar.

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Selvakumar, S., Kulanthaivel, P. & Soundara, B. Influence of nano-silica and sodium silicate on the strength characteristics of clay soil. Nanotechnol. Environ. Eng. 6, 46 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41204-021-00142-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41204-021-00142-z

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