EFFECT OF CEMENT-OIL PALM CLINKER ADMIXTURES TO SHEAR STRENGTH OF SOILS

Detailed proposal of research project: a) Research background including Literature Reviews.

In engineering perspective, soil can be defined as the uncemented aggregate of mineral grains and decayed organic matter (solid particles) with liquid and gas in empty spaces between the solid particles (Braja M.D, 2006). It is widely used in various civil engineering works as a construction material and to support structural foundations. In most developing countries which the population is increasing, more land is needed to build structures as a residential area and industrial purposes. With limited land available due to vast growth, mountainous and hills regions become civil engineers spot to build buildings. However, there will be a risk exist and certain things need to take into consideration before any structures developed. One of the matters is the slope stability issues. The evolution of slope stability in geotechnical engineering becomes one of the problems encountered in construction industry. Slope stability issue becomes one of the main obstructions in construction works. In Malaysia, nature of topography and weather conditions becomes one of the obstacles when constructions are done at the sloping area. Slope failure has been recognized as the one of the most frequent catastrophic disaster which can bring fatalities and loss of properties. Slope failure problems have been faced throughout the history due to the disruption of nature that leading to unbalance of natural soil slope. Surface failure of slope may occur due to numerous factors, but it is commonly occur due to the failure of shear strength especially during rainy seasons. According to Liu C & Evett B.J, Sliding of slope will happen if shear stress acquired in the soil exceeds the corresponding shear strength of the soil. It may occur along any of number possible surface and due to the shear strength which is varies throughout time, as soil moisture and other factor change. Thus, there is a need to find suitable improvement approaches so that this problem can be solved. For example, an adequate design needs to be constructed in structural design with appropriate soil properties to ensure the structures built will be in safe conditions within long-term period.

Methods in stabilization of slope had been developed since historical era. It was introduced before the Christian era began when certain geographic regions were afflicted with soil conditions which having restricted technology within their residence. During the Mesopotamians and Roman era, stabilizing agent has been discovered such as pulverized limestone and calcium. Both of these findings were the first chemical stabilization of weak soils in order to improve the load-carrying ability (http://www.tac-atc.ca, 2012). Throughout the history, many improvements and technologies had been found to stabilize the slope and it is still developing recently.

Hsai-Yang Fang. 1991. Foundation Engineering

Handbook. 2nd Ed. Kluwer Academic Publisher. Massachusetts. Methods in stabilization of slope have been discovered since the ancient time. During the Mesopotamians and Roman era, stabilizing agent has been discovered such as pulverized limestone and calcium. Both of these findings were the first chemical stabilization of weak soils in order to improve the load-carrying ability (http://www.tac-atc.ca, 2012). Nowadays, soil improvement is still progressing and many findings has been revealed by the researchers. It has been proved that various soil additives were developed to provide one of the following functions when added to soil it will improve soil strength, soil aggregate stability and water infiltration, and to limit water adsorption, soil erosion, evaporation of moisture and water seepage (Brandt GH, 1972). By adding additives, it will develop high strength and stiffness of the soil by reduction of void space, bonding particles and aggregates together (Bell F.G.1993). The two commonly used stabilizers of soil are cement and lime.

Bell F.G. 1993. Engineering Treatment of Soils. Taylor & Francis. UK (Letak psl cement)

Using cement as a soil stabilizer has been developed since the past few decades.

It has

been proved that by adding cement in a small proportion, it will modify the properties of soils. The most widely used cement is Ordinary Portland Cement. There are two factors that deter.mine the suitability of a soil for stabilization with Ordinary Portland Cement that is whether the cement and soil can be mixed satisfactorily and secondly, whether after the process of mixing and compacting, the soil-cement will harden completely (Bell F.G. 1993). Although this stabilizer is widely used in soil improvement, however there is fluctuation in terms of price of this raw material. According to Berita Harian, house price has been increased by 20% due to increase cost of raw construction materials. Cement which is the main materials in concrete structures has increased by 46.2%. Hence, new alternatives need to be discovered to reduce the relying to cement such as by using waste material from the industry or agricultural fields. Conversion of agricultural waste as an alternative material in construction industry will bring enormous advantages such as reduction in cost of construction material and reduce environmental impacts in terms of waste management (Mannan et. al,)

Malaysia is one of the largest producers of oil palm industry worldwide. Eventhough it boost up the economic, however it also produced tonnes of waste material to the environment known as oil palm clinker (Rafidah et. Al, ). At oil palm refineries, during the process in extracting oil palm, the shells from oil palm are used as a burning fuel. The products from the burning fuel are known as clinker. Clinker is assume as waste material and did not bring any economical values to the industry (Ahmad M.O, 2007). Palm oil clinker has appearance of a porous stone with gray in color. From its physical characteristic, it is classified as flaky, having irregular shape with rough and spiky at the broken edges. Palm oil clinker has been used in many construction industries as an alternative material to replace the current construction material. Palm oil clinker (POC) has been used in pavement design as artificial aggregates. Besides, it also has been used as composite material in concrete technology production. Conversion of agricultural waste as an alternative material in construction industry will bring enormous advantages such as reduction in cost of construction material and reduce environmental impacts in terms of waste management (Mannan et al,). Ahmad M.H (2008) has classified the chemical contain of POC based on X-ray Fluorescence test (XRF test). The chemical contain can be summarized in Table 1.

In process to improve the soil properties in terms of its shear strength, several things need to be considered. This proposal is done to provide alternative ways where cement and oil palm clinker is combines as an admixture. This combination of two materials is will be added to the soil to examine its potential to increase the shear strength of clay soils. Palm oil clinker will be mixed with cement in different composition to treat the soil samples collected.

References: Braja M.Das. 2006. Principles of Geotechnical Engineering. 7th Ed. Cengage Learning, Ltd. USA Brandt GH. Soil physical property modifiers. In: Gorning CAI, Hamaker JW, editors. Organic chemicals in the soil environment. Marcel Decker, 1972;2:692]729.

b) Objectives : The main objective is to determine the potential of cement and oil palm clinker combination towards the shear strength of clay soils.

Details of objectives: 1. To determine the soil properties of samples 2. To study the potential of oil palm clinker in treating soils 3. To determine the effect of cement and oil palm clinker combination in shear strength parameters. 4. To create alternative ways in treating soils

c) Methodology

1) Description of Methodology

This chapter will explain how this study will be carried out. Several geotechnical engineering tests will be conducted to classify the types of soil samples and to determine some parameters of shear strength. Materials: Clay, Cement, Oil palm clinker Equipment: Sieve analysis machine, Cassagandre device, Trixial cell, Strained-controlled compression machine, Extruder machine, X-ray Fluorescence machine.

Stage 1:

The soil samples will be taken at location. Any organic materials such as grass blades, roots, fragment of wood, etc.) will be manually removed to improve the homogeneity of samples and the samples is assume to be cleaned. Before the soil sample is combines with the stabilizer and oil palm clinker, the original soil properties will be determined according to specific standards in order to gather information of soil. Generally, soils can be classified based on its size particles, particles distribution, texture and by Atterberg Limit theory. For fine-grained soil such as clay, the soil needs to be classified by using Atterberg Limit test. Besides, specific gravity test is done to determine the specific gravity of soils which is needed for further works. Standard Proctor Compaction test will be done to determine the optimum moisture content of the soil. This parameter is used for preparation of trixial compression test samples. X-ray Fluorescence test (XRF test) will be conducted later on to reveal the chemical properties contain inside the cement and oil palm clinker.

Stage 2: To ensure better bonding with cement and clay, the clinker will be grounded into powder form before combining it with cement. To obtain the most efficient combination, the cement and oil palm clinker will be added in certain proportion. Three different percentages of cement (1%, 3%, 5%) will be combined together with oil palm clinker with different proportion (0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5%). These mixtures then will be added to the samples and will be compacted with optimum water content, then the samples will be taken out using extruder machine to extrudes it into cylindrical shape specimens of 75mm high and 38mm diameter. As for comparison purpose, two control specimens with 0% of cement and 5% cement addition only will be included in the test. The samples will be cured in 24 hours before being tested. All the trixial samples will be tested using trixial compression test. This test will be done on the stabilized soil in order to determine which proportion will be the effective combination with the cement-oil palm clinker in terms of shear strength. The principle behind a triaxial shear test is that the stress applied in the vertical direction (along the axis of the cylinder) can be different than the stress applied in the horizontal directions (along the sides of the cylinder). This cycle is usually repeated several times while collecting stress and strain data

about the sample. From the triaxial test data, it is possible to extract fundamental material parameters about the sample, including its angle of internal friction, apparent cohesion and dilatancy angle which will determine the shear strength of samples.

Analysis and Characterization:

1) Classification of soils: i. Sieve Analysis Test To determine the grain size distribution of the soils. After conducting this test, the results will be presented graphically in the form of a grain size distribution curve. ii. Atterberg Limit Test Liquid Limit and Plastic Limit will be determined in this test. The Liquid Limit will be determined by using the Casagandre device while the Plastic Limit will be determined by using rolling hand method. The results from this experiment will be used to classify the type of soils. iii. Specific Gravity Test The specific gravity bottle method is done to determine the specific gravity of finegrained soil by density bottle method. The result obtained will be used for calculating the weight volume relationship.

iv. Standard Proctor Compaction Test To determine the optimal moisture content at which a given soil type will become most dense and achieve its maximum dry density. The result from this test will be used for preparation of trixial sample. 2) Determination of Shear Strength i. Trixial Compression Test From this test, the fundamental of shear strength parameters will be obtained.

2) Flow Chart of Research Activities (Appendix I) 3) Gantt Chart of Research Activities (Appendix II) 4) Milestones and Dates NO Milestone Permission letter for using geotechnical engineering laboratory . Renting laboratory for XRF test Propose location for collecting soil samples Ordering cements and oil palm clinker Start collecting soil samples from selected location. Laboratory Works (Classification of soils) Laboratory Works (Determination of shear strength of samples). Data analysis and Results Preparation of report Duration

1 month

2 3 4

1 month 2 months 2 months

Expected Outcomes: 1. To determine the effect of combination between cement and oil palm clinker as an alternative findings in soil stabilizer. 2. To obtain new knowledge on cement stabilizer by adding waste material in method of treating soils. 3. To study the potential of oil palm clinker in treating soils 4. To reduce environmental impacts of oil palm clinker by using it in other industry.

Appendix I: Flow Chart of Research Activities

Background Research

Choose Location

Ordering Cement and OPC

Collect soil sample

Laboratory Works

Chemical properties of materials: XRF test

Classification of soils: i. ii. iii. iv. Sieve analysis Test Atterberg Limit Test Specific Gravity Test Standard Proctor Compaction Test

Shear Strength Determination Trixial Compression Test

Data analysis

Report Writing

Flow chart of experimental works Stage 1 Collect soil sample

Dry soil sample

Sieve Analysis

Classification of soil sample

Relative Density Determination

Atterberg Limit

Standard Proctor Compaction

Specific Gravity

Obtain Optimum Moisture Content

Prepare Sample (Using the Optimum Moisture Content) Stage 2---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Trixial Test

Budget