Additives optimisation for expansive soil subgrade improvement based on rough set theory

The swell-shrink characteristics of the expansive soils, due to the properties of their clay minerals, make them unsuitable for engineering constructions in their natural forms. One of the most frequently used methods for the modification of these soils is stabilisation using additives. In this study, a new approach based on rough set theory (RST) is presented for soil additives optimisation. The RST is a mathematical data mining approach for the analysis of imperfect knowledge or unclear description of objects. The additives used in this research are sawdust ash (SDA), stone dust (SD) and ordinary Portland cement (OPC). The unconfined compressive strength test, the California bearing ratio test and the differential free swell test were used for evaluating the properties of the stabilised soil. The results of this study indicate that the RST can effectively be used for additives optimisation in the stabilisation of expansive soils.

Automated summary

The swell-shrink characteristics of expansive soils make them unsuitable for engineering constructions. Additives can be used to modify these soils. This study presents a new approach based on rough set theory for soil additives optimization and uses various tests to evaluate the properties of the stabilized soil. The results indicate that the rough set theory is effective for additives optimization in stabilizing expansive soils.