DefinePK

Abstract

Some clayey soils are generally classified as expansive soils which cause extensive damage to civil engineering structures. Expansive clays often vary in density and moisture content from the wet season to the dry season. For example, near-or at-surface, clays often dry out during periods of drought but then expand during the rainy season or when irrigation water or water from leaky pipes wets them. Soil improvement has been widely used as an alternative to substitute the lack of suitable material on site. In this study the effect of using nontraditional chemical stabilizers in soil improvement is investigated. Various tests are performed to study the effect of using different percentages of polyethylene high density polymer (6%, 9%, and 12%) as a stabilizing agent on both structure and geotechnical clay properties. The laboratory tests include sieve analysis, hydrometer, Atterberg limits, modified compaction, swelling potential and swelling pressure, unconfined compression strength, consolidation test and California Bearing Ratio (CBR) test. The results indicated that the polymer significantly improved physical properties of expansive clay soil which have susceptibility of swelling.