Resilient modulus of clayey subgrade soils treated with calcium carbide residue

Use of industrial by-products to improve subgrade soils in flexible pavements is gaining popularity as a sustainable construction practice. Calcium carbide residue (CCR) is a by-product of acetylene gas industry. In this paper, an attempt has been made to evaluate the influence of calcium carbide residue in improving the performance of clayey subgrade soils. The improvement in resilient modulus of two clayey soils (with low plasticity and high plasticity) with the addition of calcium carbide residue is studied by carrying out repeated load triaxial tests. The influence of variation in moisture content on the repeated loading behaviour of virgin soils and CCR stabilized soils is examined. Two regression models (Universal and NCHRP model) reported in literature are found to exhibit very good fit with the experimental data.

Automated summary

The study examined the impact of calcium carbide residue on improving the performance of clayey subgrade soils through experiments, finding that the addition of calcium carbide residue can significantly improve the soil's resilient modulus. It also discovered that variations in moisture content affect the repeated loading behavior of both the virgin soils and the CCR-stabilized soils. Two regression models demonstrated a very good fit with the experimental data.