Abstract:

The expansive soils have significant volume change associated with changes in water content. These soils be exposed to adverse changes in volume and hydraulic conductivity due to the seasonal changes in moisture content. Lightweight structures are severely affected due to high swelling pressure exerted by these soils. To prevent the damage of the constructions built on the expansive soils, these soils is improved in terms of the engineering properties. Soil stabilization is one of the most widely followed techniques to control the swelling behavior of expansive soils in lightly loaded structures. In this study, an expansive soil was stabilized by using quartzite as additive material. To determine the effects of quartzite on the swelling characteristics of stabilized clayey soils a series of tests were performed on the natural and stabilized samples with different percentages of quartzite material. For this purpose, the consistency limit tests, odometer tests and vertical swelling tests were carried out under the laboratory conditions. According to the results of experimental study showed that the swelling behavior of quartzite-stabilized clayey soil samples changed. The results of experimental study showed that the swelling pressure values, the swelling pressure values and the vertical swelling percentage values of quartzite-stabilized clayey soil samples decreased due to the addition of quartzite. As a result, the quartzite played an important role in improving the swelling behavior of the expansive soils. The test results showed that the quartzite material can be successfully used to improve the swelling characteristics of expansive soils.

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