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Int. J. Engg. Res. & Sci. & Tech. 2014 Parte Shyam Singh and Yadav R K, 2014

EFFECT OF MARBLE DUST ON INDEXPROPERTIES OF BLACK COTTON SOIL

Parte Shyam Singh1* and Yadav R K2

This paper presents the results of a laboratory study undertaken to investigate the effect ofmarble dust powder on the index properties of black-cotton soil. The black-cotton soil has apoor supporting capacity and large change in volume on variations of moisture content. Suchexpansive soils may need to be improved to make them suitable for construction activities. Theobjective of study is to evaluate the feasibility of industrial waste like marble dust as soil stabilizationmaterial. To investigate the effect of marble dust on index properties of black-cotton soil a seriesof laboratory experiments have been conducted on black-cotton soil samples mixed with 0% to40% of marble dust by weight of dry soil. The test results showed a significant change inconsistency limits of samples containing marble dust. The liquid limit would decrease from57.67% to 33.9%. The plasticity index decreased from 28.35% to 16.67% and shrinkage limitincreased from 8.06% to 18.39% with the addition of marble dust from 10% to 40% of the dryweight of the black-cotton soil. Also the differential free swell decreased from 66.6% to 20.0%,showing appreciable decrease in swelling behaviour. From this laboratory investigation it isconcluded that the waste material like marble dust generated from stone industries has a potentialto modify the characteristics of expansive clay like black-cotton soil. There is significantimprovement in the index properties of the black-cotton soil on addition of marble dust into it.The expansive behaviour of the clay has reduced to a great extent.

Keywords: Marble dust, Black-cotton soil, Soil stabilization, Index properties

*Corresponding Author: Parte Shyam Singh shyam_parte12@rediffmail.com

INTRODUCTIONThe black cotton soil is an expansive clay. Theconstruction on expansive soil always creates aproblem for civil engineers because of its swelland shrink behaviour. When the black cotton soil

1 Geotechnical Engineering, JEC Jabalpur (MP), India.2 Associate Professor, Civil Engineering Department, JEC Jabalpur (MP), India.

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comes in the contact of water then excessiveswelling is caused and when water contentdecreases shrinkage occurs in the soil. Becauseof this movement lightly loaded structures suchas foundations, pavements, canal beds, linings,

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Int. J. Engg. Res. & Sci. & Tech. 2014 Parte Shyam Singh and Yadav R K, 2014

and residential buildings founded on them areseverely damaged (Chen, 1988). It has beenestimated that the annual damage to structuralon expansive soil are $1000 million in USA,£150million in UK and $1000 million pounds inworldwide (Gourley et al., 1993). In Indiaexpansive soils covers about 0.8 × 106 Km2 areaapproximately 20% of surface area. The blackcotton soil contains high percentage ofmontmorillionite mineral which imparts expansivebehaviour to it. Disposal of waste materialsgenerated from different industries causes manyproblems like environment pollution in the nearbylocality, scarcity of land for disposal, etc. Industrialwaste like blast furnace slag, fly-ash, silica-fume,rice husk ash and stone dust, etc., are consideredas alternative materials for soil stabilization. Themarble dust is generated from cutting andpolishing of marble stone. The amount of marbleslurry generated is very substantial, being in therange of 5-6 million tons per annum. This paperenvisages the effect of marble dust powder onthe index properties of black-cotton soil.

LITERATURE REVIEWA lot of research work has been done worldwidein the direction of utilizing of marble dust wasteinto the soil stabilization technique. The testresults revealed that there is significant increasein soaked CBR values. Swami (2002), Baser(2009) and Biswas et al. (2012) studied theutilization of rice husk with lime in sub-grade soilfor a rural road. They concluded that a very littleamount of lime (3%) added to the clayey soil withrice husk ash; improve the CBR value andcompaction characteristics to a great extent. Theeffect of marble dust with rice husk ash onexpansive soil has been studied by Sabat andNanda (2011). It has been reported that the CBRand UCS values increases substantially due to

addition of these two materials with expansivesoil. The waste material marble dust used as astabilizer in expansive soil. The engineeringproperties were modified to a great extent.Choudhary et al. (2011) reported theimprovement in CBR values of expansive soil sub-grade utilizing geo-synthetics. Vishwakarma andRajput (2013) studied the utilization of wastemarble slurry to enhance the soil properties. Themain objective of their study was to utilize thewaste material like marble slurry to improve thecharacteristics of black-cotton soil. A laboratoryinvestigation was conducted on black-cotton soiland marble slurry mixed into it in differentproportions. The test results showed a significantimprovement in compaction and CBRcharacteristics. Gupta and Sharma (2014)studied the influence of marble dust, fly-ash andBeas sand on sub grade characteristics ofexpansive soil.), and Palaniappan (2009) andAgrawal et al. (2011), had investigated that marbledust powder is effective waste material in thestabilization of expansive soil. Which improve theindex and engineering properties like as LL, PL,SL, compaction, swelling characteristics.

MATERIALS ANDMETHODOLOGYThe black-cotton soil marble dust powder is mixedon different proportions and a series of laboratorytests were conducted on samples containingvarious percentages of marble dust, i.e., 0%,10%, 20%, 30% and 40% by weight of the drysoil. The following tests were conducted on black-cotton soil and marble dust mixes as per relevantIS codes of practice.

The experiments conducted are:

• Grain-size Distribution

• Liquid Limit

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Int. J. Engg. Res. & Sci. & Tech. 2014 Parte Shyam Singh and Yadav R K, 2014

• Plastic Limit

• Plasticity Index

• Shrinkage Limit

• Differential Free Swell (DFS) Test.

MARBLE DUSTThe stabilizer material used in this study wasmarble dust. The marble dust was obtained froma marble cutting and polishing industry located atAdharatal, Jabalpur (MP).

BLACK-COTTON SOILThe black-cotton soil involved in this study wasbrought from Tewar, Bheraghat Road, Jabalpur(MP). The expansive soil (BC) is classified asclay of high plasticity (Gs = 2.58 with 95% fines)with expansive behaviour.

Physical Characteristics of clay samples ispresented in Table 1.

The grain size distribution curve of BC soil isshown in Figure 1.

TEST RESULTSThe Various tests are conducted on black-cotton soil mixed with marble dust in differentproport ions as per relevant IS Code ofpractice.

S. No. Parameters Test Values

1. Soil classification CH

2. Specific gravity g/cc 2.58

3. Liquid Limit (LL)% 57.67

4. Plastic Limit (PL)% 29.32

5. Plasticity Index (PI)% 28.35

6. Shrinkage Limit (SL)% 8.06

7. Differential Free Swell (DFS)% 66.6

8. Grain Size Distribution (%)Sand (%) 5Silt + Clay (%) 95

Table 1: Engineering Characteristics of BC Soil

S. No. Particulars of Tests CM0 CM10 CM20 CM30 CM40

1. Soil Classification CH CH CI CI CL

2. Liquid Limit (%LL) 57.67 52.43 42.51 39.21 33.90

3. Plastic Limit (%PL) 29.32 28.06 23.50 21.61 17.23

4. Plasticity Limit (%PI) 28.35 24.37 19.01 17.60 16.67

5. Shrinkage Limit (%SL) 8.06 10.33 12.37 15.06 18.39

6. Differential Free Swell (%DFS) 66.60 55.0 47.2 38.46 20.0

Table 2: Test Results of BC Soil-Marble Dust (%)

Note: Where CM0 = BC Soil + 0% Marble Dust; CH = Inorganic clay of high plasticity; CM10 = BC Soil +10% Marble Dust; CI = Clayof medium plasticity; CM20 = BC Soil +20% Marble Dust; CL = Clay of low plasticity; CM30 = BC Soil + 30% Marble Dust; CM40= BC Soil + 40% Marble Dust.

The test results obtained from various laboratoryinvestigations are summarized in Table 2.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONTest results variation of LL, PL, PI, SL, and DFSare shown in Figures 2 to 5. The LL decreased

Figure 1: Particle Size Distribution Curveof Black Cotton Soil

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from 57.67% to 33.90% as a marble dust contentis increased from 0% to 40%. Similarly theplasticity index (PI) of BC soil decrease from28.35% to 16.67% with the increase of marbledust content in the BC soil. Also the ShrinkageLimits (SL) increase from 8.06% to 8.39% andDFS 66.6% to 20.0% respectively. This test result

indicates that the swelling behavior of the soil isconsiderably reduced.

CONCLUTIONBased on extensive laboratory tests conductedon black-cotton mixed with marble dust from 0%to 40% by weight of dry clay. The followingconclusions can be drawn:

• The liquid limit values of the samples aredecreasing with the inclusion of marble dustinto the BC soils. It has been found that theliquid limit decreased from 57.67% to 33.90%on adding of 0% to 40% marble dust into it.

• There is significant reduction in plasticity indexvalues from 28.35% to 16.67%.

• The shrinkage limit of the black-cotton hasbeen increased by adding of 40% marble dust.The shrinkage limits increase from 8.06% to18.39%.

• The Differential Free Swell (DFS) has reducedfrom 66.6% to 20.0%. The results of plasticityindex, shrinkage limit and DFS indicates thatthe degree of expansiveness reduced from“very high’’ to “low”.

From the above laboratory investigation it canbe concluded that the industrial waste like marbledust has a potential to modify the characteristics

Figure 2: Variation of L L for Clay-MarbleDust Mixtures

Figure 3: Variation of P I Valueswith Increase in Marble Dust

Figure 4: Variation of SL Valueswith Increase in Clay-Marble Dust Mixtures

Figure 5: Variation of DFS Valueswith Increase in Clay-Marble Dust Mixtures

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8. Ergu A N (2010), “Effects of the Usage ofDiatomite and Waste Marble Powder asPartial Replacement of Cement on theMechanical Properties of Concrete”, Turkey,Construction and Building Materials, Vol. 25,pp. 806-812.

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11. Hameed M S and Sekar A S S (2009),“Properties of Green Concrete ContainingQuarry Rock Dust and Marble SludgePowder as Fine Aggregate”, India, ARPNJournal of Engineering and AppliedSciences, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 83-89.

12. Hebhoub H, Aoun H, Belachia M, Houari Hand Ghorbel E (2010), “Use of Waste MarbleAggregates in Concrete”, France,Construction and Building Materials, Vol. 25,pp. 1167-1171.

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14. Palaniappan K A and Stalin V K (2009), “UtilityEffect of Solid Wastes in Problematic Soils”,International Journal of EngineeringResearch and Industrial Applications, Vol. 2,No. 1, pp. 313-321.

of expansive clay like black-cotton soil and tomake it suitable in many geotechnicalapplications.

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