The impact of long-term curing period on the mechanical features of lime-geogrid treated soils

One problem that has always been a challenge for geotechnical engineers is construction on problematic and soft soils. Traditional methods of lime and cement stabilisation can be used to treat soils with these properties. The main drawback of lime addition to the clayey soils is a significant loss in ductility of lime-treated soils. Using ductile materials such as geogrids in lime-treated soils is one of the most effective ways to increase the soil ductility. Therefore, the effect of geogrids and lime on unconfined compressive strength (UCS), failure strain (e(f)), secant modulus (E-s), deformability indexes (I-D), resilient modulus (M-r), bulk modulus (K), and shear modulus (G) of the treated soil was investigated in the current research study. The UCS test was carried out on modified specimens with geogrid and lime within 365 days curing period. The experimental results showed that adding geogrids and lime enhances the geotechnical characteristics of clayey soils, considerably. Finally, a simple mathematical model was developed to predict the features of the lime-geogrid treated clay.

Automated summary

One challenge for geotechnical engineers is construction on problematic and soft soils. Traditional methods of lime and cement stabilisation can be used, but they can cause a significant loss in soil ductility. Using geogrids in lime-treated soils is an effective way to increase ductility. This study investigated the effects of geogrids and lime on various geotechnical characteristics and developed a mathematical model to predict the properties of lime-geogrid treated clay.