Oedometric response of an artificially prepared sand-bentonite mixture improved by potassium silicate

In this paper, articially prepared sand-bentonite samples with dierent bentonite contents were employed to investigate the role of the clay content in the swelling potential, swelling pressure and oedometric behavior of expansive clays. Specimens were also dynamically compacted utilizing an identical compaction eort at various initial water contents to study the eect of the initial fabric of the soil on its volume change behavior and also to nd the moisture content corresponding to the minimum drying-wetting induced swell and shrinkage of the material. Furthermore, commercially available Potassium Silicate is evaluated as a potential stabilizer in improving the volume change features of the sandbentonite mixtures. Three dosage levels of the Potassium Silicate solutions were utilized to stabilize the expansive clayey soil. Free swelling, drying-wetting and consolidation tests were conducted on the stabilized soil samples. The results indicate that the swelling potential of the improved soil specimens are much lower than those of the non-stabilized soils. Also, Potassium Silicate eliminates the shrinkage behavior of the expansive clay. Besides, the mechanical oedometric behavior of the stabilized and non-stabilized soils is similar and Potassium Silicate does not change the response of the soil samples to the mechanical loading.