1.

INTRODUCTION

1.1 EXPANSIVE SOIL

Expansive soils are those that experience significant volume changes associated with
changes in water contents. It expands when water is added and shrinks when they dry out.
An expansive soil expands due to the presence of highly reactive clay minerals such as
montmorilonite and smectite. This continuous change in soil volume can cause light
structure built on this soil to move unevenly and crack. This damage is more than twice
the damage from floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, and earthquakes combined. Problem of
expansive soils has appeared as cracking and break-up of pavements, roadways, building
foundations, Therefore it is necessary to improve the soil properties to avoid damages to the
structure. Marble dust is used to improve the properties of expansive soil which is available
in large amount and are produced in huge amount by the marble industry.

Visual identifications of expansive soil:

1) Wide and deep shrinkage cracks occurring during dry periods

2) Soil is rock-hard when dry, but very sticky and soft when wet

3) Damages on the surrounding structures due to expansion of soil

Expansive soil or Black cotton soil can be found in Deccan plateau area of covering entire
Maharashtra state, south Gujarat and western Madhya Pradesh, southern part of Andhra
& Orissa states. Black soil also occur in smaller area of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and
Tamil Nadu
1.2 MARBLE & MARBLE DUST

Marble or real marble is a metamorphic rock that consists predominantly of calcite

and/or dolomite. Marble may be considered as metamorphosed limestone (i.e. limestone
which has been fully re-crystallized and hardened under hydrothermal conditions).
The production of fine particles (<2mm) while cutting marble is one of the major
problems for marble industry. When 1 m³ marble block is cut into 2 cm thick slabs, the
proportion of fine particle production is approximately 25 %.
While cutting of marble blocks water is used as cooler. But, the fine particles can be
easily dispersed after losing humidity, under atmospheric conditions, such as wind and rain.
Thus, fine particles can cause more pollution than other forms of marble waste.
Typically, marble is composed of the following major constituents: 38-42% Lime
(CaO), 20-25% Silica (SiO2), 2-4% Alumina (Al2O3), 1.5-2.5% various oxides (NaO
and MgO), and 30-32% various carbonates (MgCO3 and others).

1.3 CONSOLIDATION

According to Karl von Terzaghi “consolidation is any process which involves a

decrease in water content of saturated soil without replacement of water by air”. In general
it is the process in which reduction in volume takes place by expulsion of water under long
term static loads. It occurs when stress is applied to a soil that causes the soil particles to pack
together more tightly, therefore reducing its bulk volume. When this occurs in a soil that is
saturated with water, water will be squeezed out of the soil. The magnitude of consolidation
can be predicted by many different methods.
 2. METHODOLOGY INVOLVED

2.1. Purpose:
The purpose of this experimental study is to investigate the effects of the addition of waste
marble dust on Atterberg limits, grain size distribution, swell percentage, and rate of swell
of an expansive soil sample; and also, to investigate the effect of curing on swell percentage
and rate of swell of an expansive soil stabilized with waste marble dust.

2.2. Test Procedure

2.2.1 Free Lime Content Test

Pozzolanic activity is the one of the main factors using of waste marble dust.
Lime content of these stabilizers plays major role for pozzolanic activity. ASTM C 25
(Standard Test Methods for Chemical Analysis of Limestone, Quicklime and Hydrated Lime)
was used as a reference to determine the hydrated lime content of test samples.

To determine hydrated lime in stabilizers, the following steps can be summarized;

1) Neutralized sugar solution is prepared. (40 g sugar is dissolved in 100 ml CO2-free water,
‘ drops of 4% phenolphthalein indicator and 0.1 N NaOH is added to sugar solution).
2) 2.804 g of sample is brushed in 40 ml of CO2-free water and 100 ml of neutralized
sugar solution is added to this mixture.
3) The mixture is left for reactions for 15 min. and in 5 min. intervals it is swirled.
4) After 15 min. the mixture is titrated with HCl, until the first disappearance of the pink
color, which persists for 3 s.

Available lime [Ca(OH)2], % = NxVx3.704/ W

Where; N: normality of acid solution (= 1 in this study)
V: standard HCl (1.0 N), ml
W: weight of sample, g (= 2.804 g in this study)
 2.2.2. Free Swell Ratio Test

To have information on the swell property of soil, Sridharan and Prakash

(2000-b) proposed the free swell ratio method of characterizing the soil expansivity.
Free swell ratio (FSR) defined as the ratio of equilibrium sediment volume of 10-g oven
dried soil passing a 425-wm sieve in distilled water (Vd) to that of carbon tetra chloride
or kerosene (Vk) (Sridharan and Prakash, 2004).
FSR= Vd/Vk

10 g of each sample was added to 100 ml of water in a graduated jar. Also, another
10 g of each sample was added to 100 ml of commercially available kerosene in a
graduated jar. After 24 hours, sediment volumes of samples were measured to calculate
Free Swell Ratio, FSR. Classification of soils based on free swell ratio is listed below

Classification of soils based on free swell ratio (after Prakash and Sridharan,2004)

Free Swell Ratio Soil Expansivity Clay Type Dominant Clay

Mineral Type
<1.0 Negligible Non-swelling Kaolinitic
1.0-1.5 Low Mixture of Non- Kaolinitic and
swelling and Swelling Montmorillonitic
1.5-2.0 Moderate Swelling Montmorillonitic
2.0-4.0 High Swelling Montmorillonitic
>4.0 Very High Swelling Montmorillonitic
2.2.3 ATTERBERG LIMITS

This testing method is used as an integral part of several engineering classifications

systems to characterize the fine-grained fractions of soils and to specify the fine-grained
fraction of construction materials. The liquid limit, plastic limit and plasticity index of soils
are also used extensively, either individually or together, with other soil properties to correlate
with engineering behavior such as compressibility, permeability, compatibility, shrink-swell
and shear strength.

2.2.3.1 LIQUID LIMIT

This test is done to determine the liquid limit of soil as per IS: 2720 (Part 5) – 1985.
The liquid limit of fine-grained soil is the water content at which soil behaves practically like
a liquid, but has small shear strength. Its flow closes the groove in just 25 blows in
Casagrande’s liquid limit device. About 100g of the specimen passing through 425µm IS
Sieve is mixed thoroughly with distilled water in the evaporating dish and left for 24hrs.
For soaking. Procedure is given below

1) Place a portion of the Soil paste in the cup of the liquid limit device.

2) Level the mix so as to have a maximum depth of 1cm.

3) Draw the grooving tool through the sample along the symmetrical axis of the cup,
holding the tool perpendicular to the cup.

4) For normal fine grained soil: The Casagrande’s tool is used to cut a groove 2mm wide
at the bottom, 11mm wide at the top and 8mm deep.

5) For sandy soil: The ASTM tool is used to cut a groove 2mm wide at the bottom,
13.6mm wide at the top and 10mm deep.

6) After the soil pat has been cut by a proper grooving tool, the handle is rotated at the
rate of about 2 revolutions per second and the no. of blows counted, till the two parts of
the soil sample come into contact for about 10mm length.

7) Take about 10g of soil near the closed groove and determine its water content
8) The soil of the cup is transferred to the dish containing the soil paste and mixed
thoroughly after adding a little more water. Repeat the test.

9) By altering the water content of the soil and repeating the foregoing operations, obtain
at least 5 readings in the range of 15 to 35 blows. Don’t mix dry soil to change its
consistency.

10) Liquid limit is determined by plotting a ‘flow curve’ on a semi-log graph, with no. of
blows as abscissa (log scale) and the water content as ordinate and drawing the best
straight line through the plotted points.

2.2.3.2 PLASTIC LIMIT

This test is done to determine the plastic limit of soil as per IS: 2720 (Part 5) – 1985.
The plastic limit of fine-grained soil is the water content of the soil below which it ceases
to be plastic. It begins to crumble when rolled into threads of 3mm dia. Take out 30g of air
-dried soil from a thoroughly mixed sample of the soil passing through 425µm IS Sieve.
Mix the soil with distilled water in an evaporating dish and leave the soil mass for naturing.
This period may be upto 24hrs.

Procedure to determine The Plastic Limit of Soil

1) Take about 8g of the soil and roll it with fingers on a glass plate. The rate of rolling
should be between 80 to 90 strokes per minute to form a 3mm dia.

2) If the dia. of the threads can be reduced to less than 3mm, without any cracks appearing,
it means that the water content is more than its plastic limit. Knead the soil to reduce
the water content and roll it into a thread again.

3) Repeat the process of alternate rolling and kneading until the thread crumbles.

4) Collect and keep the pieces of crumbled soil thread in the container used to determine
the moisture content. Repeat the process at least twice more with fresh samples of
plastic soil each time.
2.2.4 STANDARD PROCTOR COMPACTION TEST

For determination of the relation between the water content and the dry density
of soils using light compaction. IS: 2720(Part 7)-1980- Methods of test for soils:
Determination of water content-dry density relation using light compaction.
Procedure is given below:
1) 5 Kg. of soil is taken and the water is added to it to bring its moisture content to
about 4 % in coarse grained soils and 8% in case of fine grained soils with the help
of graduated cylinder

2) The mould with base plate attached is weighed to the nearest 1 gm (M1). The extension
collar is to be attached with the mould.

3) Then the moist soil in the mould is compacted in three equal layers, each layer being
given 25 blows from the 2.6 Kg rammer dropped from a height of 310 mm. above the soil.

4) The extension is removed and the compacted soil is leveled off carefully to the top of
the mould by means of a straight edge.

5) Then the mould and soil is weighed to the nearest 1 gm. (M2).

6) The soil is removed from the mould and a representative soil sample is obtained water
content determination.

7) Steps 3 to 6 are repeated after adding suitable amount of water to the soil in an
increasing order.
 3. LITERATURE REVIEW

PAPER 1: Expansive Soil Stabilization Using Marble Dust and

Bagasse Ash

Abstract: This research is an attempt to investigate the effect of marble dust and bagasse ash
on the stabilization of expansive soils. Expansive soils are always characterized by their
high expansion, high moisture content, high compressibility, and high shrinkage on drying
along with wide polygonal cracks and sufficient swelling on wetting. Expansive soils
are present in different parts of the world and extensively found in many locations.
We Utilizing bagasse ash and marble dust wastes for the improvement of expansive soil.
Different lab tests on expansive soil without the addition of these waste and with the addition
of these waste were performed and their effect on swelling and other properties were
determined.

PAPER 2: Effect of marble dust on strength and durability of Rice husk

ash stabilized expansive soil

Abstract: This paper presents the results of a laboratory study undertaken

to investigate the effect of Marble dusts on strength and durability of an expansive
soil stabilized with optimum percentage of Rice Husk ash (RHA). Marble dust was
added to RHA stabilized expansive soil up to 30%, by dry weight of the soil, at
an increment of 5%. Compaction tests, UCS tests, Soaked California Bearing
Ratio (CBR) tests, Swelling pressure tests and Durability tests were conducted on
these samples after 7 days of curing. The Maximum Dry Density(MDD) and
Swelling pressure of expansive soil goes on decreasing and Optimum Moisture
Content (OMC) goes on increasing irrespective of the percentage of addition of
Marble dust to RHA stabilized expansive soil.
 4. REFERENCES

1) R. Ali, H. Khan, A. A. Shah 2014,” Expansive Soil Stabilization Using Marble Dust
and Bagasse Ash “

2) Akshaya Kumar Sabat, Radhikesh P. Nanda 2011,” Effect of marble dust

on strength and durability of Rice husk ash stabilized expansive soil “

3) IS: 2720(Part 7)-1980- Methods of test for soils.