• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.12 no.3
• /
• pp.523-539
• /
• 2017

Clay soils are typical for their swelling properties upon absorption of water during rains and development of cracks during summer time owing to the profile desorption of water through the inter-connected soil pores by water vapour diffusion leading to evaporation. This type of unstable soil phenomenon by and large poses a serious threat to the strength and stability of structures when rest on such type of soils. Even as lime and cement are extensively used for stabilization of clay soils it has become imperative to find relatively cheaper alternative materials to bring out the desired properties within the clay soil domain. In the present era of catastrophic environmental degradation as a side effect to modernized manufacturing processes, industrialization and urbanization the creative idea would be treating the waste products in a beneficial way for reuse and recycling. Bottom ash and ecosand are construed as a waste product from cement industry. An optimal combination of bottom ash-eco sand can be thought of as a viable alternative to stabilize the clay soils by means of an effective dispersion dynamics associated with the inter connected network of pore spaces. A CATIA model was created and imported to ANSYS Fluent to study the dispersion dynamics. Ion migration from the bottom ash-ecosand pile was facilitated through natural formation of cracks in clay soil subjected to atmospheric conditions. Treated samples collected at different curing days from inner and outer zones at different depths were tested for, plasticity index, Unconfined Compressive Strength (UCS), free swell index, water content, Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC), pH and ion concentration to show the effectiveness of the method in improving the clay soil.