Applied Clay Science 146 (2017) 56–69

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Applied Clay Science

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Research paper

Stabilization of expansive Belle Fourche shale clay with different chemical MARK
additives
Mustafa Dayioglua, Bora Cetinb,⁎, Soonkie Nama
a
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Rapid City, SD 57701, United States
b
Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, United States

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Improving the engineering properties of expansive soils is very important in northern plains, Texas and mid-west
Expansive clay soil regions of the United States. In this study, expansive Belle Fourche clay (B) from South Dakota, was mixed with
Swelling pressure the class C fly ash (FC), class F fly ash (FF) and lime. Swelling pressure (SWP) and unconfined compressive
Unconfined compressive strength strength (UCS) tests were conducted on samples that were cured at different periods (0, 7 and 28 days).
Fly ash
Furthermore, freeze and thaw (F-T) effects on the swelling and strength properties of the clay and selected
Lime
mixtures were investigated.
Freeze-thaw cycles
Results showed that the SWP of the Belle Fourche clay (B) decreased significantly with addition of lime 4% by
dry weight of soil from 235 kPa to almost 0 kPa. Mixing fly ashes also reduced the SWP to 47 kPa and 100 kPa
with class C and class F fly ashes, respectively. Increase in F-T cycles reduced the SWP, whereas the SWP
increased with 2 and 4 F-T cycles for the mixtures with the fly ashes. However, after 4 cycles, the pressure of the
same mixtures decreased. On the contrary, to the clay-fly ash mixtures, F-T did not affect the SWP of the clay-
lime mixtures. In terms of strength, chemical treatment increased UCS. The overall effectiveness of the treatment
under the curing and F-T was in the order of FC, lime, and FF. The UCSs of the clays treated with these additives
were 3.58, 1.82, and 1.63 times higher than the non-treated clay. F-T reduced the UCS of the clay and the clay
treated with FF. Although the UCS of the FC and lime mixtures increased within 2 cycles of F-T, they did not
show the same strength improving performance with more F-T cycles. It was observed that mixtures with higher
liquid limit and plasticity index (PI) tended to have higher SWP and lower UCS. This study claimed that
chemically stabilized soils with high CaO content, CaO/SiO2, CaO/Al2O3, and CaO/(SiO2 + Al2O3) ratios had
higher potential to decrease SWP of expansive soils and increase UCS of weak soils.

1. Introduction their moisture content is decreased. As a result of this, expansive soils

Mitigation of the swelling and shrinking potential of expansive soils
is very critical design aspect of pavement structures when expansive
soils are used as a subgrade layer. Expansive subgrade soils undergo
large amounts of heaving and shrinking due to seasonal moisture
changes, which lead to failure of the upper pavement structure.
The highway subgrade layer is a very critical component of
pavement structures. Its primary function is to act as a foundation to
provide adequate mechanical support to the asphalt or concrete layer to
prevent fatigue and occurrence of rutting failures. Furthermore, the
performance of subgrade layers becomes more complex when it is
expansive soils. Expansive soils significant characteristics include high
plasticity, low strength, high swelling and shrinkage potential (Holtz
and Kovacs, 1981). These soils have tendency to swell and soften when
their moisture content is increased, or shrink and dry cracked when
used in subgrade construction often result in heave-and shrinkage-
related cracks in highways and airfield pavements (Punthutaecha et al.,
2006; Puppala et al., 2007; Nieto et al., 2008; Bin-Shafique et al., 2010;
Puppala and Chittoori, 2012; Estabragh et al., 2013). Furthermore,
even kaolinite rich soils can expand considerably if they are contami-
nated with alkaline and organic leachate (Olgun and Yildiz, 2010 and
Chavali et al., 2017).
A large number of studies have been conducted with different types
of additives for soil stabilization (Petry and Dallas, 2002; Garzon et al.,
2015). However, every soil and chemical additives have their own
characteristic and behavior under different conditions. Thus, the
effectiveness of the stabilization method depends on various factors
such as the type of soils, chemical composition and amount of additives.
Hausmann (1990) mentioned that mitigation techniques for expan-
sive soils could be classified as physical, mechanical and chemical

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: mudayioglu@gmail.com (M. Dayioglu), bcetin@iastate.edu (B. Cetin), soonkie.nam@sdsmt.edu (S. Nam).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.clay.2017.05.033
Received 16 January 2017; Received in revised form 23 May 2017; Accepted 24 May 2017
0169-1317/ © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
M. Dayioglu et al.
stabilization methods. The same research concludes that due to their
efficiency, replicability and reliability, mechanical and chemical stabi-
lization methods are the most recommended methodologies than the
physical methods.
Among many chemical treatment methods, dry mixing of the
problematic soils with different types of chemical additives such as
coal fly ash, lime, cement and calcium chloride has yielded successful
results in many studies (Kumar and Sharma, 2004; Kolias et al., 2005;
Sezer et al., 2006; Rao and Subbarao, 2012; Estabragh et al., 2013).
Estabragh et al. (2013) used lime, cement and coal fly ash to evaluate
their effects on the expansive soil properties by mixing a local expansive
soil with 5% and 10% lime, 5%, 10%, and 20% cement and 5%, 10%,
15% and 20% class C fly ash (high calcium) by dry weight of soil.
Parameters such as swell potential, swelling pressure and unconfined
compressive strength of treated soils were measured and compared
with those of untreated soils. This study concluded that at the same
percentage, the impact of lime to reduce the swelling potential of
expansive soil is better than those observed for cement and fly ash
mixtures. Zhang and Cao (2002) added 40–50% fly ash and 4–6% lime
by dry weight to an expansive soil and studied the effects on its
behavior. The finding of this study was that using lime and fly ash to
mitigate the swelling potential of expansive soils yields successful
results. Guney et al. (2007) claimed that the optimum addition of lime
needed for the mitigation of expansive soils should be between 3% and
10% by weight and observed that the addition of extra lime beyond
these values did not contribute to any reduction in the swelling
potential or an increase in unconfined compressive strength. Similarly,
Kumar and Sharma (2004) investigated the effect of different mixing
ratio of fly ash on the swelling behavior and the results indicated that
fly ash contents > 20% did not further reduce the swell potential of the
soil. Bell (1996) also indicated that further additions of lime beyond 3%
did not change the swelling potentials, but increased the other
engineering properties of expansive soils such as strength and stiffness.
Hampton and Edil (1998) explained the stabilization mechanism of
chemical additives by the formation of a rapid hydration process and a
cation exchange procedure, which form larger lumps than the initial
soil particles. The pozzolanic reaction products are calcium silicate
hydrates (C-S-H) and calcium aluminate silicate hydrates (CASH).
Those products play an important role in the increase of stabilized soil
strength. Edil et al. (2006) evaluated the effect of fly ash on the strength
of fine grained inorganic and organic soils. California bearing ratio
(CBR) test and resilient modulus (MR) tests were performed on fly ash-
soil mixtures at optimum and wet side of the optimum moisture content
and the results indicated that for inorganic soils both CBR and MR
values increased with fly ash addition, whereas for organic soil no
significant change was observed. In another study, Tastan et al. (2011)
conducted unconfined compression and resilient modulus tests on fly
ash stabilized organic soils and found that increasing moisture content
reduces the effect of pozzolanic reaction on strength and the effect of fly
ash stabilization depends on soil mineralogy and fly ash characteristics.
Fly ash amendment also yields successful results on the stabilization
of highway base layers. The studies conducted by Cetin et al. (2010)
and Bin-Shafique et al. (2010) indicated that the fly ash amendment
improved the engineering properties of highway base/subbase layers
significantly. Cetin et al. (2010) also performed a cost analysis and
mentioned that fly ash stabilization may result in significant cost
reduction while the total cost is mainly affected by the traffic volume,
construction location and pavement drainage conditions. Arora and
Aydilek (2005) studied the performance class F fly ash-lime stabilized
soils as highway base layers by conducting unconfined compression,
CBR and resilient modulus tests. The results indicated that the strength
of a mixture is highly dependent on the curing period, compaction
energy, cement content, and water content at compaction.
The findings of the studies mentioned above show that addition of
chemical additives such as lime and fly ash yields successful results in
mitigation of excessive swelling and increasing of strength. However,
57
Applied Clay Science 146 (2017) 56–69
the amount of material to be added varies significantly depending on
the properties of the expansive soil as well as the chemical additives.
Each study suggested that different chemical additives be used with
different percentages by weight, and compacting at different moisture
contents etc. Thus, for any different soils and chemical additives, an
independent study has to be conducted to determine the optimum
amounts for the chemical additive percentages. For those reasons, due
to the unique properties of the expansive soil, Belle Fourche clay, and
chemical additives used in this study, the effective dosage of chemical
additives to improve the engineering properties of Belle Fourche clay
was evaluated.
Furthermore, there have been many research conducted on the
freeze and thaw effects on soils. However, there is limited information
about the effects of freeze and thaw cycles on swelling pressure.
Therefore, in this study, laboratory tests have been performed to
identify the relation between freeze and thaw cycles and swelling
pressure.
It is well known that index properties of soil additive mixtures and
CaO, SiO2, and Al2O3 contents of the additives are very important to
affect the mineralogy and geotechnical engineering properties of
expansive soils. However, there is not enough studies to correlate these
factors to the change in mineralogy and engineering properties of
expansive soils. The current study investigates these gaps and establish
relationships between physical and chemical properties of soil-additive
mixtures and support these changes with changes in mineralogy of the
original soil specimen.
The main objective of this study is to improve the engineering
properties (strength and swelling pressure) of Belle Fourche clay (B),
which is obtained from Belle Fourche Shale that is one of the most
common expansive shales in South Dakota (Brandner, 2009), to provide
adequate foundation for pavements and structures built in South
Dakota. To achieve this goal, the locally available Belle Fourche clay
(B) was mixed with 3 different chemical additives: class C fly ash, class
F fly ash and lime. Swelling pressure and unconfined compression
strength tests were conducted on the soil and soil-additive mixtures. In
addition, the impacts of freeze-thaw, curing period, additive type, and
additive content on the engineering properties of Belle Fourche clay (B)
were investigated. Moreover, correlations were investigated between
the engineering properties of mixtures and their respective liquid limit,
plasticity index, CaO content, CaO/SiO2, CaO/Al2O3, and CaO/
(SiO2 + Al2O3) ratios.
2. Materials
In this study, three different additives, a C-type fly ash, F-type fly
ash and lime, and expansive Belle Fourche clay (B) were tested. Belle
Fourche clay (B) is an expansive soil that is originated from the Belle
Fourche Shale. Belle Fourche clay (B) samples were collected from
Rapid City, SD and pulverized, and sieved through No. 40 sieve before
it is mixed with other additives. Fig. 1 shows the Belle Fourche clay (B)
before and after grinding process completed.
Fig. 2 shows that Illite and Montmorillonite minerals are the
dominant clay minerals present in Belle Fourche clay (B). Ismail and
El-Shamy (2009) and Zhang et al. (2016) also studied with shale that
possess similar Illite, kaolinite, and montmorillonite percentages. It is
classified as high plasticity clay (CH) while additives show no plasticity
according to Unified Soil Classification System. The specific gravity (Gs)
of the clay soil, Class C fly ash, Class F fly ash, and lime were 2.67, 2.6,
2.53, and 2.1, respectively (Table 1). Fig. 3 shows the grain size
distribution of the materials and indicates that 100% of lime and Belle
Fourche Clay consist of fine-grained soil particles while 10% and 4% of
Class F and Class C fly ash are sand size particles, respectively. Belle
Fourche clay (B) is a soil with high expansion potential according to the
charts and tables provided in van der Merwe (1964), Sridharan and
Prakash (2000), and Holtz et al. (2011). According to these references,
any soil with liquid limit (LL) and plasticity index (PI) between 40–60
M. Dayioglu et al. Applied Clay Science 146 (2017) 56–69

Belle Fourche Clay (B)

Class C Fly Ash (FC)
Class F Fly Ash (FF)
Lime (L)
100

80

Percent Finer
60

40
Fig. 1. Pictures of Bella Fourche Shale before and after grinding the soil samples.

200 20
Q: Quartz
Belle Fourche Clay I: Illite
Q
K: Kaolinite
S: Smectite 0
150
1 0.1 0.01 0.001 0.0001

Grain Size (mm)

Counts

100
Fig. 3. Grain size distributions of soils and chemical additives.

Table 2
50 S I I
K K I,S Chemical composition of chemical additives.
S I,S
K I,S
K Parameter Percent of composition

0 Belle Fourche Class C fly Class F fly Lime

8 16 24 32 40 48 56 64
clay ash ash
2q
SiO2 52.1 31.9 51.3 1.5
Fig. 2. X-ray diffraction pattern of the Belle Fourche clay. Al2O3 11.18 17.5 16.3 –
Fe2O3 5.13 5.1 6.3 –
and 23–45, respectively, is classified as a soil with a high degree of SO3 – 2 0.7 –
CaO 1.6 29.1 14.3 92.5
expansion. The LL and PI of the Belle Fourche clay (B) is 57 and 29, MgO 2.23 – 4.7 1.5
respectively (Table 1) which shows that it falls in the soils with high Na2O 3.26 – 1.4 –
swelling potential. In addition, van der Merwe (1964) relates the K2O 2.9 – 2.6 –
swelling potential of soils with corresponding clay fraction and PI Loss on ignition (LOI) 8.2 1 0.1 1.2
values. According to this chart Belle Fourche clay (B) is a high swelling
potential soil with 45% clay fraction (Fig. 3) and PI of 29. Furthermore,

Table 1
Index properties of soil and chemical additives.

Materials Symbol Amount of additive by Grain size distribution (%) Activity LL PI USCS Gs γd wOPT
dry weight (%) classification
< 0.002 0.002–0.075 > 0.075 (kN/m3) (%)
(mm) (mm) (mm)

Belle Fourche B 0 45 55 0 0.64 57 29 CH 2.67 17.1 17.6

clay
Class C fly ash FC N/A 21 75 4 − − − Non-plastic 2.6 − −
Class F fly ash FF N/A 14 76 10 − − − Non-plastic 2.53 − −
Lime L N/A 10 89 1 − − − Non-plastic 2.00–2.20 − −
Belle Fourche BFC BFC10 10 43 57 0 0.45 47 19 ML − 17.5 15.6
clay
+ BFC20 20 40 59 1 0.4 45 16 ML − 17.6 14.7
Class C fly ash BFC30 30 38 61 1 0.32 41 12 ML − 17.8 14.5
Belle Fourche BFF BFF10 10 42 57 1 0.41 45 17 ML − 17.6 15.4
clay
+ BFF20 20 39 59 2 0.39 42 15 ML − 17.9 14.4
Class F fly ash BFF30 30 36 61 3 0.42 41 15 ML − 18 14
Belle Fourche BL BL4 4 44 56 0 0.21 43 9 ML − 16.4 19.7
clay
+ BL8 8 43 57 1 0.16 42 7 ML − 16.2 20.6
Lime BL12 12 41 58 1 0.07 40 3 ML − 15.9 20.7

Notes: BFC: Belle Fourche clay – Class C fly ash mixtures, BFF: Belle Fourche clay – Class F fly ash mixtures, BL: Belle Fourche clay – Lime mixtures, LL: Liquid limit, PI: plasticity index,
USCS: unified soil classification system, Gs: specific gravity, γd: maximum dry density, wOPT: optimum moisture content.

58
M. Dayioglu et al. Applied Clay Science 146 (2017) 56–69

45 3.1. Swelling pressure test (SWP)

a) Class C Fly Ash Q Q: Quartz
40 A: Anyhydrite (CaSO )
4 In order to determine one dimensional volumetric expansion
CA: (Ca Al O )
3 2 6 characteristics of both untreated and treated Belle Fourche clay,
35 L: Lime (CaO)
CA swelling pressure tests (SWP) were conducted on the soil samples in
accordance with ASTM 4546 Method C. Duplicate SWPs were con-
Counts

30
A ducted on each sample and the average of the two test results were
25 reported. Volumetric change of samples was completely restricted and
L pressure increases were measured when the samples were inundated.
20 Samples were reconstituted as a disc sample on maximum dry unit
I
I weight and optimum water content values obtained from the Modified
K I
15 Proctor test with the equivalent modified energy. In order to optimize
the production of test reconstituted disc samples, compaction molds
10
8 16 24 32 40 48 56 64 with a diameter of 10.16 cm and height of 6.1 cm are used. The excess
materials on the top of the mold were trimmed and used for water
2q
content measurement. For 0 and 7 days curing as well as freeze and
70
Q Q: Quartz
thaw test samples, the reconstituted disc samples were extruded using a
b) Class F Fly Ash
C: Calcite (CaCO ) hydraulic jack and sealed with plastic wrap to keep the moisture
3
60
L: Lime (CaO) content constant.
Samples were sealed and cured for 1, 7, and 28 days at 97% ± 3
50 humidity at 24 ± 2C°. Samples that were subjected to freeze and thaw
cycles were cured for 7 days in the humidity room before starting the
Counts

40 C freeze and thaw cycles. Then, the freeze and thaw cycles were applied
30
L subjected to 2, 4, and 8 freeze-thaw cycles. Freeze-thaw cycles were
20
10
8 16 24 32 40
2q
Fig. 4. XRD patterns of a) Class C fly ash and b) Class F fly ash.
Weaver and Pollard (1973) claimed that Illite dominant soils with CEC
higher than 10 to 15 meq/100 g have some expansive layers. CEC of
Belle Fourche Clay is 28 meq/100 g, which is almost twice as much of
15 meq/100 g indicating that it has high swelling potential. Moreover,
Karakaya et al. (2010) claimed that soils possessing clay minerals with
2:1 layer structure (Illite, montmorillonite e.g.) tend to swell if the
Na2O-to-CaO ratio is higher than 1 and lower than 3. Table 2 shows that
the Na2O/CaO of Belle Fourche clay is 2.04 indicating that it has high
swelling potential.
Class C and Class F fly ashes were collected from coal power plants
in Billings, Montana and Underwood, North Dakota, respectively. A
commercially available lime was used. Table 2 shows the chemical
compositions of chemical additives used in the current study. CaO
content of lime was the highest (92.5%) while the CaO contents of Class
C and Class F fly ashes were 29.1% and 14.3%. In addition, Fig. 4 shows
the XRD patterns of Class C and Class F fly ashes. Based on the XRD
analyses, CaO mainly present in anhydrite (CaSO4) and calcium
aluminum oxide (Ca3Al2O6) forms in Class C fly ash while it was in
calcite (CaCO3) form in Class F fly ash. According to Fig. 4 it is claimed
that both, in Class F and Class C fly ashes, the halo corresponding to the
vitreous phase is present between 2θ = 16° and 2θ = 35°.
3. Methods
Soil-fly ash mixtures were prepared with 10%, 20% and 30% fly ash
by weight and lime content in soil-lime mixtures varied between 4%,
8%, and 12% by weight. All samples were compacted at their
corresponding optimum moisture content with modified compaction
energy in accordance with ASTM D1557 Method A.
by keeping the samples in a freezer at − 23 ± 5C° for 24 h and at
97% ± 3 humidity at 24 ± 2C° for the following 24 h. Samples were
applied only on the selected samples which were soil alone, soil mixed
with 30% Class C fly ash (BFC30), soil mixed with 20% Class F fly ash,
and soil mixed with 8% lime by weight.
48 56 64 When the steps mentioned above were completed, the disc samples
were unwrapped, placed in a loading frame and a cutting ring for the
consolidation test, with diameter of 6.35 cm and height of 2.54 cm, was
pushed into the disc sample at a rate of 0.254 cm/min. The excessive
materials over the ring were trimmed smoothly and carefully in order to
get a flat sample surface and the trimmed materials were used for water
content measurements. Weight of the ring and sample were measured
to check the unit weight of the sample before placing the sample into
the consolidation cell.
Porous stones were placed both on top and bottom of each soil
sample, and filter papers were placed between the soil sample and
porous stones. Then the consolidation ring was placed into the cell.
Once the sample was placed on the load frame, a seating load of 1 kPa
was applied on the specimen. The sample was inundated and the
swelling pressure was monitored until there was no further increase in
the pressure. After the test was completed, the ring including the
specimen was weighed immediately and samples were taken for the
water content measurement.
3.2. Unconfined compressive strength test (UCS)
In order to determine the strength characteristics of both non-
treated and treated Belle Fourche clays, unconfined compression tests
(UCST) were conducted in accordance with ASTM D2166.
Samples were reconstituted on the maximum dry unit weight and
optimum water content obtained from the modified Proctor tests. A
customized mold with dimensions of D = 7.11 cm and H = 14.22 cm
was used to reconstitute the samples for the unconfined compressive
strength tests.
Samples were sealed and cured for 1, 7, and 28 days were kept in
the humidity room at the same humidity and temperature conditions
applied for the swelling pressure test samples. Samples prepared for the
freeze-thaw cycles analyses were cured for 7 days and were subjected to
2, 4, and 8 freeze-thaw cycles. Same freezing and thawing conditions
were applied as the ones described in swelling pressure test.
Each was placed between the loading plate and cap, making sure the
cap was centered. The upper frame was lowered so that it barely

59
M. Dayioglu et al. Applied Clay Science 146 (2017) 56–69

touches the soil specimen. The dial gauge for displacement measure- 60
ment was adjusted and the rate of loading was set to 2% strain/min, as a)
defined in ASTM D2166, which is 2.844 mm/min. The loading was
B
BFC
continued until the load on the sample showed a clear peak or the axial 55 BFF
strain reached 15%. Once failure of a specimen was observed, it was BL
removed from the loading frame and samples were taken from the
specimen for the moisture content measurement.
50

Liquid Limit
3.3. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses

45
XRD analyses were conducted on Belle Fourche Clay, and 1 day and
7 days cured soil mixed with 30% Class C fly ash (BFC30), soil mixed
with 30% Class F fly ash (BFF30), and soil mixed with 12% lime (BL12).
X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis was performed using a Siemens D 500 40
X-ray diffractometer with Cu X-ray tube source operated at 50 kV and
27 mA by using medium-resolution slits. All stabilizing samples were
ground in an agate mortar and pestle prior to XRD analysis. Soil 35
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
materials were oven-dried and ground for 2 min in a SPEX shatter box
to produce a fine powder for XRD analysis. XRD specimens were back- Additive Content (%)
packed to avoid preferred orientation. Selected samples were equili- 60
brated with water vapor (100% relative humidity, 24-hour treatment) b) B
at room temperature (23 ± 2 °C) to rehydrate the oven-dry soils. Then 55 BFC
the samples were allowed to sit at ambient temperature and humidity BFF
(23 ± 2 °C, 25% to 35% relative humidity) for about 2 h prior to XRD BL
50
analysis.
The proportions of quartz, kaolinite, illite, and montmorillonite in
Plastic Limit
the BFC were estimated in accordance with Mitchell and Soga (2005) 45
which is based on the minerals's relative peaks intensities.
40
4. Results
35
4.1. Impact of additives on index properties of Belle Fourche clay
30
Liquid limit (LL), plastic limit (PL) and plasticity index (PI) of the
non-treated Belle Fourche clay (B) and the mixtures of the clay and
25
chemical additives are summarized in Table 1. Fig. 5a shows that liquid 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
limits of the mixtures decrease as the amount of additives increase
Additive Content (%)
regardless the type of additives. Inclusion of additives seemed to bind
and encapsulate the colloidal particles in the clay which resulted in 60
decrease in the LL of the mixtures. These findings are similar to the c) B
previous studies which also found that LL of chemically stabilized 50 BFC
materials decreased with increase of additive content (Ji-ru and Xing, BFF
2002; Kumar and Sharma, 2004; Al-Rawas et al., 2005; Guney et al., BL
Plasticity Index (PI)

2007; Zha et al., 2008). Both class C and F fly ashes do not make a 40
remarkable change in plastic limit whereas lime increases plastic limit
significantly as shown in Fig. 5b. During addition of lime it is
30
speculated that the thickness of the double diffuse layer of the clay
particles is reduced rapidly which yield to flocculation of clay particles.
Thus, the plastic limit of lime stabilized clay increased. This increasing 20
trend of plastic limit with lime stabilization is reported in other studies
as well (Ji-ru and Xing, 2002; Guney et al., 2007; Zha et al., 2008).
Plasticity Index (PI) of soil is a good indicator to predict whether soil 10
has a high swelling potential (Mitchell and Soga, 2005). Soils with high
PI values tend to have higher swelling behavior. Fig. 5c shows that PI of 0
all samples mixed with the additives decrease. Reduction in plasticity 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
with fly ash and lime stabilization has been also reported in numerous Additive Content (%)
studies including Bell (1996), Nalbantoglu and Gucbilmez (2001),
Fig. 5. Impact of chemical additives on (a) liquid limits, (b) plastic limit, and (c) plasticity
Nalbantoglu and Tuncer (2001), Al-Rawas et al. (2005), El-Latif index of soil and soil-additive mixtures. (Notes: BFC: Belle Fourche Clay – Class C fly ash
(2008), Zha et al. (2008), Bin-Shafique et al. (2010), Estabragh et al. mixtures, BFF: Belle Fourche Clay – Class F fly ash mixtures, BL: Belle Fourche Clay –
(2014), and Elkady (2015). This observation can be explained with Lime mixtures).
cation exchange process occurring in the soil matrix. Due to the cation
exchange between soil and additives, the fabric of mixtures become
more flocculated and aggregated, hence the plasticity decreases (Tastan 4.2. Swelling pressure tests (SWPs)
et al., 2011). These results imply that addition of lime and fly ashes into
the soil should decrease swelling pressure of the expansive Belle Duplicate swelling pressure tests (SWPs) were conducted on Belle
Fourche clay (B) used in the current study. Fourche clay (B), Belle Fourche clay mixed with class C fly ash (BFC),

60
M. Dayioglu et al. Applied Clay Science 146 (2017) 56–69

600 140
a) a) BFF30 Q C: Calcite
120 BFC30 E: Ettringite
P: Portlandite
500 C-S-H: Calcium Silica Hydrate
100 Q: Quartz
Swelling Pressure (kPa)

400 80

Counts
B 60 C-S-H
300 BFC (1 day)
C-S-H
BFC (7 days) 40 P
BFC (28 days) C C-S-H
E
200 20

0
100 8 16 24 32 40 48 56 64
2 θ (degrees)
140
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 Q C: Calcite
BFF30 E: Ettringite
120 b) BFC30
Additive Content (%) P: Portlandite
BL12
C-S-H: Calcium Silica Hydrate
600 100 Q: Quartz
b)
80

Counts
500
60
Swelling Pressure (kPa)

C-S-H P
400 E
40
C C-S-H

20
300
0
8 16 24 32 40 48 56 64
200
2 θ (degrees)
B
Fig. 7. XRD of a) 7 days cured BFF30 and BFC30 specimen and b) 1 day cured BFF30,
100 BFF (1 day)
BFC30, and BL12 specimen.
BFF (7 days)
BFF (28 days)
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 Clay (B) decreases significantly with an increase in additive content
Additive Content (%) when soil-additive mixtures are cured for 7 and 28 days. SWP of the
Belle Fourche clay decreased with fly ashes used in the current study
600
due to the effect of cation exchange between the cations embodied in
c)
B fly ash and clay particles, and the effect of release of cementitious
500 BL (1 day) product such as calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H) and calcium aluminate
BL (7 days) silicate hydrate (CASH) (Senol et al., 2005; Sezer et al., 2006; El-Latif,
Swelling Pressure (kPa)

BL (28 days) 2008; Tastan et al., 2011; Lee and Shang, 2014). Fig. 7a confirms the C-
400 S-H formation for 7 days cured BFC30 specimen. However, similar
increase in C-S-H content was not observed for 7 days cured BFF30
300 specimen (Fig. 7a). Other studies also indicated that there was a sudden
decrease in the swelling potential of clays due to the flocculation and
aggregation caused by cation exchange effect of fly ash (Guney et al.,
200 2007; Zha et al., 2008; Estabragh et al., 2013). However, such trend
was not observed for the soil-fly ash mixtures that were cured only for
1 day (Fig. 6a and b). This could be caused by the effects of dry density
100
and water content to the swelling characteristics of the soil-fly ash
mixtures. It is well known that soils with higher dry density and lower
0 moisture content, may have higher swelling pressure than the soils
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 which have lower dry density and higher moisture content (Holtz and
Additive Content (%) Kovacs, 1981; Nelson and Miller, 1992; El-Latif, 2008; Guney et al.,
Fig. 6. Impact of additive content on swelling pressure of soil stabilized with (a) class C 2007; Zha et al., 2008). Table 1 shows that maximum dry density and
fly ash, class F fly ash, and (c) lime. (Notes: BFC: Belle Fourche Clay – Class C fly ash optimum moisture contents of soil-Class C fly ash mixtures
mixtures, BFF: Belle Fourche Clay – Class F fly ash mixtures, BL: Belle Fourche Clay – γdry = 17.5 kN/m3–17.8 kN/m3, wopt = 14%–15.4%) and soil-Class F
Lime mixtures). mixtures (γdry = 17.6 kN/m3–18 kN/m3, wopt = 14.5%–15.6%) are
higher and lower, respectively than the soil-lime mixtures
with class F fly ash (BFF) and with lime (BL). Impact of additive (γdry = 15.9 kN/m3–16.4 kN/m3, wopt = 19.7%–20.7%). In addition,
contents and curing time on SWP were investigated. Percentages of when the water content of expansive soil increased, the lower swelling
both fly ashes by dry weight in mixtures are 10, 20 and 30% and those behavior is expected, prewetting of expansive soils is one of treatment
for the lime are 4, 8 and 12%. All mixtures were tested for 1 day, 7 days methods to reduce the swelling potential (Chen, 1975; Holtz and
and 28 days curing periods. Fig. 6 shows that SWP of the Belle Fourche Kovacs, 1981; Nelson and Miller, 1992; El-Latif, 2008; Estabragh

61
M. Dayioglu et al. Applied Clay Science 146 (2017) 56–69

et al., 2013; Das and Sobhan, 2014). Thus, the higher swelling pressure 600
in BFC and BFF samples with 1-day curing period than the non-treated
a) B
Belle Fourche clay can be related to higher dry unit weights and the
500 BFC10
lower water contents of BFC and BFF than the Belle Fourche clay as BFC20
seen in Table 1. Moreover, Fig. 7b shows that 1 day cured fly ash

Swelling Pressure (kPa)

BFC30
stabilized soil mixtures (BFF 30 and BFC30) do not form any hydration 400
and pozzolanic products while BL12 mixture produces high calcite
(CaCO3) and portlandite (Ca(OH)2). These XRD results show that 1 day
curing is not adequate time to mitigate the swelling of soils with fly 300
ashes.
Fig. 6c presents impact of the lime addition on SWP of the Belle
200
Fourche clay (B). As discussed before, for 1 day cured samples, the
swelling pressure of BFC and BFF samples are higher than swelling
pressure that of Belle Fourche clay, whereas mixture with lime resulted 100
in lower swelling pressure. Moreover, the SWP of BFF samples exhibit
an increase from 0% to 10% fly ash by weight then start decreasing
when fly ash content increased from 10% to 20% and 20% to 30% by 0
0 7 14 21 28
weight. However, the SWP of BFF samples prepared with 20% and 30%
Curing Period (days)
fly ash are 1.8 and 1.6 times higher than the SWP of non-treated Belle
Fourche clay. This can be related to the particle size distribution as 600
shown in Table 1 that FF has more silt and sand sized materials than FC, b)
B
which can reduce the swelling potential. Zha et al. (2008) mentions a BFF10
500
similar finding that the geo materials that contain more sand and silt BFF20

Swelling Pressure (kPa)

size particles could have lower swelling potential. Therefore, while the BFF30
FF percentages increase from 10% to 20% and 30% in BFF, fraction of 400
silt and sand increase as well and as a result of this, the SWP of BFF
decreases.
300
The hydration between fly ash, soil and water creates cementitious
products that are responsible to bind the soil particles and mitigate the
swelling (Sezer et al., 2006; El-Latif, 2008; Guney et al., 2007; Zha 200
et al., 2008; Tastan et al., 2011; Estabragh et al., 2013; Lee and Shang,
2014). In addition to this, other studies indicated that curing period
enhances the cementitious and pozzolanic reaction (Nalbantoglu and 100
Gucbilmez, 2001; Nalbantoglu, 2004; Sezer et al., 2006; Zha et al.,
2008; Lee and Shang, 2014). As given in Fig. 8a, curing period longer 0
than 7 days with BFC samples resulted in reduction of swelling pressure 0 7 14 21 28
substantially. The swelling pressure of BFC10 samples decreased from Curing Period (days)
371 kPa to 74 kPa after 28 days of curing. However, BFC20 and BFF30 600
samples resulted in less reduction in swelling pressure for the curing c)
periods longer than 7 days. When the curing period was 28 days, and B
the amount of fly ash increased from 10% to 30%, the reduction rate of 500 BL4
BL8
swelling pressure was lower.
Swelling Pressure (kPa)

BL12
Swelling pressure of the BFF samples cured for 7 days was less than 400
that of the 1 day-cured BFF samples as shown in Fig. 8b. This could be
explained by the formation of cementitious products during the 7 days
curing period. As the curing period increased to 28 days and the fly ash 300
amount increased to 30%, BFF sample exhibited the best performance
in terms of mitigating the swelling pressure. The SWP of BFF30 sample
200
with 28 days curing period is approximately half of that of non-treated
Belle Fourche clay. This could be attributed to two reasons. First, due to
the fact that class F fly ash has lower CaO content (14.3%) than class C 100
fly ash (29.5%), the dosage of cementitious products is expected to be in
lower amount as well. Hence, when the percentage of class F fly ash
0
increased from 20% to 30%, the amount of cementitious products most 0 7 14 21 28
probably increased as well and this could cause better results on Curing Period (days)
mitigating the SWP. In addition, longer curing period enhances
chemical reaction to produce cementitious products that contribute to Fig. 8. Impact of curing periods on swelling pressure of soil stabilized with (a) class C fly
ash, class F fly ash, and (c) lime. (Notes: BFC: Belle Fourche Clay – Class C fly ash
decrease the SWP. Zha et al. (2008) showed the same findings that
mixtures, BFF: Belle Fourche Clay – Class F fly ash mixtures, BL: Belle Fourche Clay –
swelling potential could be reduced by amending expansive soils with Lime mixtures. The numbers that follow the additives indicate the percentages by
higher amount of class F fly ash and increasing curing period. weight).
Fig. 8c shows that adding lime to Belle Fourche clay reduces the
SWP significantly without requiring longer curing period. This can be
attributed to excessive cation exchange when clays are mixed with lime et al., 2008; Estabragh et al., 2014; Elkady, 2015). Lime used for the
which embodies very high amount of CaO which also mentioned in study has 92.5% of CaO whereas CaO in type C and type F fly ashes are
other studies (Bell, 1996; Rao et al., 2000; Nalbantoglu and Gucbilmez, 29.1% and 14.5% respectively. Swelling pressure is reduced by
2001; Al-Rawas et al., 2005; El-Latif, 2008; Guney et al., 2007; Zha approximately 70% after mixing 4% of lime by weight to Belle Fourche

62
M. Dayioglu et al. Applied Clay Science 146 (2017) 56–69

clay under 1 day-cured condition (short term). For the cured BL 0 F-T Cycle
samples, because of the pozzolanic reactions during the curing period, 2 F-T Cycles
cementation could begin and thus, mitigation capacity of SWP by lime 4 F-T Cycles
mixing could increase. After 28 days of curing period, swelling pressure 8 F-T Cycles
was close to 0 kPa. The reducing effect of curing on swelling pressure of 300
lime mixed expansive soils is also mentioned in other researches (Bell,
1996; Nalbantoglu and Gucbilmez, 2001; El-Latif, 2008; Zha et al.,
250
2008; Elkady, 2015). Another important result is that when the curing

Swelling Pressure (kPa)

period is 28 days the swelling pressure did not change as the lime
percentage increased in the range of lime content that used in this 200
study. For BL samples, which were cured for 28 days, regardless the
lime amount, the swelling pressures decrease approximately to 0 kPa.
This result also agrees with others' findings that lime does not affect the 150
swelling potential of an expansive soil after a certain amount. For
example, Bell (1996) indicated that the optimum lime percentage by
100
dry weight of soil is between 1% and 3% to mitigate the swelling
pressure of expansive soils whereas Basma and Tuncer (1991) gave the
optimum lime amount between 2% and 8%. 50
During curing process, the swelling mitigation performances of
Class C fly ash were better than Class F fly ash regarding the SWP as
given in Fig. 8. This can be mostly attributed to the higher CaO content 0
B BFC30 BFF20 BL8
of BFC than BFF. Similar assessment can also be made for the better
performance of lime than Class C fly ash and the large differences of Fig. 9. Swelling pressures of soil and stabilized soil-additive mixtures under F-T cycles.
CaO contents between class C fly ash (29.5%) and lime additives (Notes: BFC: Belle Fourche Clay – Class C fly ash mixtures, BFF: Belle Fourche Clay – Class
F fly ash mixtures, BL: Belle Fourche Clay – Lime mixtures. The numbers that follow the
(%92.5).
additives indicate the percentages by weight).
Fig. 8 indicates that lime can reduce the swelling potential of Belle
Fourche clay significantly and immediately even after 1-day curing,
Table 3
since it chemically affects the swelling mechanism such as causing a
Water content change of Belle Fourche clay samples before and after freeze and thaw
large amount of cation exchange and creating cementitious products. In cycle.
addition to this, lime can show better performance to mitigate the
swelling potential than the fly ashes due to its compaction properties. Number of freeze and thaw cycle:
BL having lower dry unit weight and higher water content compare to
2 cycles 4 cycles 8 cycles
the Belle Fourche clay, BFC and BFF as seen in Table 1 so this could
contribute to mitigate the SWP as well. Water content before freeze and thaw 17.3 17.7 17.5
cycle (%):
Water content after freeze and thaw 18.1 18.9 19.1
4.3. Impact of freeze and thaw cycles on swelling pressure
cycle (%):

Selected samples were subjected to the freeze and thaw (F-T) cycles
in order to investigate the impact of winter conditions on swelling
pressure of Belle Fourche clay (B). Specimens were subjected to 2, 4,
and 8 freeze and thaw cycles and then tested for swelling potential.
Belle Fourche clay (B), Belle Fourche clay mixed with 30% class C fly
ash (BFC30), Belle Fourche clay with 20% class F fly ash (BFF20), and
Belle Fourche clay with 8% lime (BL8) were selected samples for these
analyses.
The swelling pressure of Belle Fourche clay decreased from 238 kPa
to 58 kPa with F-T cycles (Fig. 9). This trend could be explained by the
fact that the water content of Belle Fourche clay samples increased after
they were exposed to F-T cycles as seen in Table 3, because the water
within the soil can migrate to the frozen zone of soil during the freezing
(Holtz and Kovacs, 1981; McCarthy, 1998). Although all specimens
were sealed with plastic wrap to keep the water content constant during
freeze and thaw process (closed system), water within the reconstituted
disc sample could be redistributed during the F-T cycle process. Thus,
the water content of freezing front could increase (Othman and Benson,
1993; Wang et al., 2007; Rosa et al., 2016). Despite the fact that some
water could make reverse migration from surface to center during the
thawing, the amount of this water transfer is known to be lower than
the water transfer during the freezing (Wang et al., 2007). Therefore,
since the edges of the samples start to freeze earlier than the center in
disc samples reconstituted for the swelling tests, the water content of
the edges could be higher than the center of samples. In other words, it
is considered as a pre-wetting process and this could be the reason for
decrease in swelling pressure for Belle Fourche clay samples during the
F-T cycle. One of common characteristics of expansive soils that pre-
wetting mitigates swelling of soils (Chen, 1975; Holtz and Kovacs,
1981; Nelson and Miller, 1992; El-Latif, 2008; Estabragh et al., 2013;
Das and Sobhan, 2014).
The decreasing trend of swelling pressure of Belle Fourche clay
samples could also be explained by the structural change of clays during
the F-T cycles. Some researchers reported that the structure of clay can
be changed by F-T effect (Konrad, 1989; Wang et al., 2007; Rosa et al.,
2016). However, the mechanisms and process of the changes in the clay
structure were not parts of the current study scopes, and thus further
studies on their effects on the swelling pressure of expansive clays are
recommended.
Fig. 9 illustrates that for the both fly ash mixtures swelling pressure
show similar increasing trend during 2 and 4 F-T cycles. However,
swelling pressure of the same mixtures starts decreasing after 4 F-T
cycles. These behaviors could be related to the accelerated and retarded
pozzolanic reaction. Early studies reported that the formation of
cementitious product is retarded with freezing and accelerated with
thawing (Khoury and Zaman, 2002; Arora and Aydilek, 2005; Cetin
et al., 2010). Rosa (2009) also claimed that either freezing or thawing
could dominate the retardation-acceleration of cementitious product
formation or they could compensate each other. Change of volume of
the samples due to the expansion of water during the freezing is another
possible effect of F-T on the soils as reported by Bin-Shafique et al.
(2010), Cetin et al. (2010) and Camargo et al. (2013). Since the
cementitious bonds that already formed along with the sample could
be broken by F-T effect, both BFC30 and BFF20 samples could behave
like a more expandable soil during the two and four cycle of F-T.
Thereafter while the F-T cycle increases, pozzolanic reaction may

63
M. Dayioglu et al. Applied Clay Science 146 (2017) 56–69

become dominant, resulting in an increase and acceleration in cemen- 5000

titious bond production and the SWP could be mitigated.

Unconfined Compressive Strength (kPa)

a)
On the other hand, no significant differences on the swelling
pressure were observed for the BL8 samples during the F-T cycles 4000
(Fig. 9). Fig. 8c shows that curing time did not affect the SWP of BL8
samples significantly. This indicates that lime results in a quick
stabilization in the soil and it nearly completes its entire chemical 3000
process at early curing stage. Therefore, BL8 samples tested for F-T
effects are expected to have completed the hydration process during
their 7 days curing period before they were subjected to F-T cycle, and 2000
it is also expected that F-T could not affect the SWP of BL8 samples. As B
the F-T cycles continued, the cementitious product formation may have BFC10
been affected. However, as the swelling pressure in the mixtures of 1000 BFC20
Belle Fourche clay and lime did not change much during the F-T cycles, BFC30
this could be attributed that acceleration-retardation mechanisms of
pozzolanic reaction compensated each other. 0
0 7 14 21 28
Curing Period (day)
4.4. Unconfined compression test (UCS)
5000

Unconfined Compressive Strength (kPa)

4.4.1. Impact of additive content and curing times on unconfined b)
compression strength
4000
The relationships between the unconfined compression strength
(UCS) values and additive content and their variations with curing
times are presented in Fig. 10. Fig. 10a shows that the UCS of the 1 day-
3000
cured BFC samples increased slightly with addition of class C fly ash.
This relatively slight increase in strength shows that curing of the Belle
Fourche clay (B)-Class C fly ash mixture is required for hydration 2000
process to be completed.
Formation of cementitious products is one of the most fundamental B
factors of strength gain during the chemical soil stabilization BFF10
1000 BFF20
(Nalbantoglu and Tuncer, 2001; Nalbantoglu, 2004; Zha et al., 2008; BFF30
Harichane et al., 2011; Lin et al., 2013; Olgun, 2013; Lee and Shang,
2014). Cementitious products, such as Calcium Silicate Hydrate (C-S- 0
H), Calcium Aluminate Silicate Hydrate (CASH), can increase the 0 7 14 21 28
strength of soils by bonding the soil particles (Bell, 1996; Tastan Curing Period (day)
et al., 2011; Elkady, 2015). Fig. 10a shows that as the fly ash amount 5000
and curing period increases for BFC samples, UCS of 7 days cured
Unconfined Compressive Strength (kPa)

c)
BFC10, BFC20 and BFC30 samples are 1.66, 2.13 and 2.36 times higher B
that of 28 days cured BFC10, BFC20 and BFC30 samples are 2.24, 2.99 4000 BL4
and 2.58 times higher than the UCS of non-treated Belle Fourche clay BL8
respectively. The UCS increase can be attributed to the fact that the BL12
amount of cementitious product could increase as the content of FC 3000
increases. Furthermore, cementation could be enhanced due to the
curing period and this also can contribute to the increase of UCS.
Fig. 11a shows that C-S-H content formed in BFC30 specimen cured for 2000
7 days is significantly higher than the ones cured for 1 day, confirming
that at adequate curing time it is necessary for fly ash to improve the
geotechnical engineering properties of expansive soils. 1000
On the other hand, slight increases in UCS of 1 day cured BFF (Class
F fly ash stabilized soil) samples were observed (Fig. 10b). Fig. 10b
shows that UCS of 7 days cured BFF10, BFF20 and BFF30 samples 0
were1.55, 1.63, and 1.48 times higher than that of non-treated Belle 0 7 14 21 28
Fourche clay. However, increasing class F fly ash content > 20% by Curing Period (day)
weight results in the decrease in the strength of BFF samples. Zha et al. Fig. 10. Impact of curing periods on swelling pressure of soil stabilized with (a) class C fly
(2008) presented a similar result that after an optimum amount, which ash, class F fly ash, and (c) lime. (Notes: BFC: Belle Fourche Clay – Class C fly ash
was between 9% and 12% by dry weight, increase in the class F fly ash mixtures, BFF: Belle Fourche Clay – Class F fly ash mixtures, BL: Belle Fourche Clay –
content in the mixture did not result in strength gain in their study. It Lime mixtures. The numbers that follow the additives indicate the percentages by
weight).
indicates that the unconfined compression strength can even decrease
with addition of class F fly ash after certain contents. This behavior
could be observed due to the fact that presence of excessive class F fly come to an equilibrium and then increasing curing time and class F fly
ash may behave like un-bonded silt particles that may not increase or ash amount from 10% to 30% do not impact the UCS. XRD analyses on
even decrease the strength (Bell, 1996; Kate, 2005; Zha et al., 2008). BFF30 specimens cured for 1 day and 7 days are aligned on top of each
Increasing curing time from 7 to 28 days or increasing class F fly ash other indicating that the production rate of hydration products did not
content from 10% to 30% did not make a significant difference in UCS increase with curing time (Fig. 11b).
of the clay soil, which could be related to the relative lower amount of Fig. 10c shows that a slight increase in the unconfined compression
CaO. Because of the lower amount of CaO, pozzolanic reaction may strength of BL samples under 1 day-cured condition was observed. This

64
M. Dayioglu et al. Applied Clay Science 146 (2017) 56–69

Unconfined Compressive Strength (kPa)

140 5000
a) BFC30 Q C: Calcite
120 E: Ettringite 1 day Cured
P: Portlandite 7 Days Cured
C-S-H: Calcium Silica Hydrate 4000 28 Days Cured
100 Q: Quartz
1 Day Cured
80 3000
Counts

7 Day Cured

60
C-S-H C-S-H
2000
40 P
C C-S-H
E
20
1000

0
8 16 24 32 40 48 56 64 0

BFC30

BL12
BFF10
BFF20

BFF30
B
BFC10

BFC20

BL4

BL8
2 θ (degrees)
140
b) BFF30 C: Calcite Additive Contents
120 E: Ettringite
Q P: Portlandite Fig. 12. Impact of additive content on unconfined compressive strength of soil stabilized
C-S-H: Calcium Silica Hydrate
100 with (a) class C fly ash, class F fly ash, and (c) lime. (Notes: BFC: Belle Fourche Clay –
Q: Quartz
Class C fly ash mixtures, BFF: Belle Fourche Clay – Class F fly ash mixtures, BL: Belle
80
1 Day Cured Fourche Clay – Lime mixtures. The numbers that follow the additives indicate the
Counts

7 Day Cured percentages by weight).

60
C-S-H
40
C P
E (Nalbantoglu and Gucbilmez, 2001; El-Latif, 2008; Harichane et al.,
20
0
8 16 24 32 40 48
2 θ (degrees)
Fig. 11. XRD of 1 day and 7 days cured a) BFC30 and b) BFF30 specimens.
Table 4
Cation exchange capacity of soil and soil-lime mixtures.
CEC (meq/100 g)
1 day curing
BL4 13.6
BL8 10
BL12 6.2
Belle Fourche clay 28
could be explained by cation exchange and flocculation mechanism due
to lime addition into soil. Since lime has high CaO content (92.5%), the
cation exchange would take place quickly and this may result in the
flocculation of particles (Nelson and Miller, 1992; Nalbantoglu and
Gucbilmez, 2001; Nalbantoglu and Tuncer, 2001; Al-Rawas et al., 2005;
El-Latif, 2008; Das, 2011). Tishmack et al. (2001) and Bin-Shafique
et al. (2010) mentioned that the additives, which particularly have high
amount of calcium, could cause flocculation of soil particles. Floccu-
lated soils could have higher strength. Table 4 shows the cation
exchange capacity (CEC) of lime mixtures. This shows that CEC of
soil-lime mixtures decrease significantly with addition of lime. On the
other hand, it was also observed that CEC of lime mixed soils did not
experience a significant change with an increase in curing from 1 day to
7 days indicating that 1 day curing is the optimum curing time for lime
stabilized expansive soils to gain strength.
The increase of both the lime content and the curing period
increases the UCS of BL samples as shown in Fig. 10c. Similar results
are reported in other studies that investigated the effect of increasing
lime content (Consoli et al., 2009, 2011; Harichane et al., 2011;
Ghobadi et al., 2013) and curing period on UCS (Bell, 1996; Elkady,
2015). This could be attributed to the fact that increasing the lime
content and curing period form more cementitious products that bond
the soil particles and increase the strength of lime stabilized soil
2011; Estabragh et al., 2013).
Fig. 12 presents the comparisons of the UCS of samples prepared
56 64 with different additives. Better performance of BFC than BFF samples in
terms of UCS can be associated with differences between CaO content of
two fly ashes. Since the CaO content of FC (29.05%) is higher than CaO
content of FF (14.30%), BFC samples could have more cementitious
products contributing to higher unconfined compression strength
(Sezer et al., 2006; El-Latif, 2008; Tastan et al., 2011). On the other
hand, even though lime contains a larger amount of CaO (92.5%),
unconfined compression strength of the BFC samples are higher than
the BL samples as well. This could be the result of the pozzolanic
7 days curing reaction mechanism. For the pozzolanic reaction, one or more of
calcium, water silica and alumina are fundamentally needed. Calcium
11.8
reacts with water and silica and creates C-S-H, or reacts with silica,
9
6.3 water and alumina together and creates CASH that increases the
strength of the soil (Bell, 1996; Tastan et al., 2011; Elkady, 2015).
Since the lime does not have silica and alumina, these two should be
dissolved from clay minerals in order to initiate and retain chemical
reaction. This dissolving process is not quick and needs an alkali
environment (Bell, 1996; Nalbantoglu and Tuncer, 2001; El-Latif,
2008).
On the other hand, class C fly ash has both pozzolanic and self-
cementitious properties (El-Latif, 2008 and Harichane et al., 2011).
Therefore, the progress of pozzolanic reaction is supposed to be easier,
faster and more efficient than lime. Furthermore, when the lime is
mixed with an expansive soil, the expansive soil starts to absorb the
lime and the calcium amount in order to be used for pozzolanic reaction
decreases, resulting in the retardation of the pozzolanic reaction. This
process is called lime fixation (Bell, 1996). These processes could be the
reasons for the BFC samples to possess higher unconfined compressive
strength than the BL samples.
Same principles mentioned above can be used to explain the
differences in measured UCS values of BFF and BL samples. Fig. 10
show that, the UCS of the BFF10 and BL12 samples are very close when
they are cured for 1 day and cured for 7 days. Observation of this trend
could be attributed to the fact that BL samples have a larger amount of
CaO but lacking of other components (CaO, Al2O3) that are necessary to
complete the cementation. In this case, these cementation compensat-
ing oxides have to be dissolved from clay minerals for accelerated and
increased pozzolanic reactions which are very difficult.

65
M. Dayioglu et al. Applied Clay Science 146 (2017) 56–69

0 F-T Cycle result, the UCS of 28 days cured BL samples are higher than those
2 F-T Cycles observed for BFF samples at 28 days curing period.
4 F-T Cycles
8 F-T Cycles
5000 4.4.2. Impact of freeze and thaw on unconfined compression strength
(UCS)
Unconfined Compressive Strength (kPa)

4000
3000
2000
1000
0
B BFC30
Fig. 13. Unconfined compressive strength of soil and stabilized soil-additive mixtures
under F-T cycles. (Notes: BFC: Belle Fourche Clay – Class C fly ash mixtures, BFF: Belle
Fourche Clay – Class F fly ash mixtures, BL: Belle Fourche Clay – Lime mixtures. The
numbers that follow the additives indicate the percentages by weight).
On the other hand, BFF mixtures already contain silica and alumina
with relatively smaller amount of CaO. Dissolving of silica and alumina
from clay minerals is a time dependent process (Bell, 1996; Nalbantoglu
and Tuncer, 2001). Therefore, as the curing time increases, the amount
of dissolved silica and alumina are also expected to increase and more
cementitious products could be formed inside the BL samples. As a
Fig. 13 shows the variation of Belle Fourche Clay (B), BFC30, BFF20,
and BL8 specimens with F-T cycles. Generally, results show that the
UCS of samples decrease with an increase in number of F-T cycles. This
strength loss is most likely caused by the volumetric change, increase of
void ratio and microstructural changes (Wang et al., 2007; Bin-Shafique
et al., 2010; Rosa, 2009; Cetin et al., 2010). The strength loss could also
occur during F-T process due to water migration inside the soil that
weakens part of the soil (Rosa, 2009).
Fig. 10 shows that there is no further strength gain measured for
BFF20 samples after 7 days of curing period. Due to the fact that the
sample was cured in the constant humidity and temperature room for
7 days prior to the F-T cycles, UCS increase was not expected during the
F-T cycles. Moreover, due to the F-T effect, the cementitious bonds
formed during the 7 days curing period could be broken (Bin-Shafique
BFF20 BL8 et al., 2010; Cetin et al., 2010; Camargo et al., 2013). In addition, F-T
cycles could reduce the strength of chemically stabilized soils due to
possible change of the soil structure during this process. Hence, as seen
in Fig. 13, UCS of BFF20 decreases significantly even after it was
exposed to 2 F-T cycles.
As discussed previously the UCS of the BFC30 and BL8 samples
increased with the increase of curing period from 7 to 28 days.
Therefore, strength increase could be expected during the F-T period.
However, as mentioned above, the pozzolanic reaction slows down
while the sample freezes, whereas it accelerates during thawing process
(Khoury and Zaman, 2002; Arora and Aydilek, 2005; Rosa, 2009; Cetin
et al., 2010). The unconfined compression strength of both BFC30 and
BL8 samples increased in the first 2 F-T cycle as seen in Fig. 13. This can
be attributed to the fact that strength reducing effect of F-T could be

350 350

a) b)
300 300
Swelling Pressure (kPa)
Swelling Pressure (kPa)

250 250

200 200

150 150

100 100

50 50

0 0
35 40 45 50 55 60 0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Liquid Limit Plasticity Index (PI)

5000 5000
Unconfined Compressive Strength (kPa)

Unconfined Compressive Strength (kPa)

4500 c) 4500 d)

4000 4000

3500 3500

3000 3000

2500 2500

2000 2000

1500 1500

1000 1000
35 40 45 50 55 60 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Liquid Limit Plasticity Index (PI)

Fig. 14. Variation of swelling pressure and unconfined compressive strength with liquid limit and plasticity index.

66
M. Dayioglu et al. Applied Clay Science 146 (2017) 56–69

350 350

a) b)
300 300

Swelling Pressure (kPa)

Swelling Pressure (kPa)
250 250

200 200

150 150

100 100

50 50

0 0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 60 61 62

CaO Content (%) CaO/SiO Ratio

2

350 350

c) d)
300 300

Swelling Pressure (kPa)

Swelling Pressure (kPa)

250 250

200 200

150 150

100 100

50 50

0 0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 60 61 62

CaO/Al O Ratio CaO/(Al O +SiO ) Ratio

2 3 2
2 3

Fig. 15. Impact of chemical properties on swelling pressure a) CaO content, (b) CaO/SiO2 ratio, (c) CaO/Al2O3 ratio, and (d) CaO/(Al2O3 + SiO2) ratio.

5000 5000
Unconfined Compressive Strength (kPa)
Unconfined Compressive Strength (kPa)

a) b)
4000 4000

3000 3000

2000 2000

1000 1000

0 0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 0 0.5 1 1.5

CaO Content (%) CaO/SiO Ratio

2

5000 5000
Unconfined Compressive Strength (kPa)
Unconfined Compressive Strength (kPa)

c) d)
4000 4000

3000 3000

2000 2000

1000 1000

0 0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 0 0.5 1 1.5

CaO/Al O Ratio CaO/(Al O +SiO ) Ratio

2 3 2 3 2

Fig. 16. Impact of chemical properties on unconfined compressive strength a) CaO content, (b) CaO/SiO2 ratio, (c) CaO/Al2O3 ratio, and (d) CaO/(Al2O3 + SiO2) ratio.

67
M. Dayioglu et al.
suppressed by cementation which continued during F-T period when
number of F-T cycles were small. However, as the F-T cycles continue
for longer period of time, strength reducing effect of F-T increased and
yielded cementitious bonds to be broken. Thus, the UCS of BFC
decreased after 2 F-T cycles. Although the UCS of BFC20 and BL8 start
decreasing after 2 and 4 F-T cycles, respectively, these values are still
higher than the UCS values of non-frozen-thawed samples (Fig. 13).
4.4.3. Relationship between the liquid limit, plasticity index and on swelling
pressure (SWP), unconfined compression strength (UCS).
Fig. 14a and b show the trend between liquid limit and SWP and
plasticity index (PI) and SWP, respectively, while Fig. 14c and d show
the relationship between liquid limit and UCS and plasticity index (PI)
and UCS, respectively. Fig. 12a and b indicate that soils/mixtures with
high liquid limit and PI tend to have higher swelling pressure. It is very
well known that liquid limit and PI of soils are directly related to the
activity and colloidal particle content. The activity of clay soils can be
decreased with inclusion of chemical additives which results in reduc-
tion in SWP. On the other hand, opposite trends were observed between
the liquid limit, PI and UCS of the soils/mixtures. This was an expected
trend since the expansive soils significant characteristics include high
plasticity, low strength, high swelling and shrinkage potential (Holtz
and Kovacs, 1981). Addition of fly ash and lime is likely to make the soil
more granular which yield lower plasticity and higher strength due to
decrease in activity in clay soil. Fig. 10c and d also proved this trend.
4.4.4. Impact of chemical compositions on swelling pressure (SWP) and
unconfined compressive strength (UCS)
One of the primary factors of chemical additives to the chemical and
mechanical structure of soils is pozzolanic reactions (Nelson and Miller,
1992). Calcium rich (CaO) chemical additives react with silica (SiO2)
and alumina (Al2O3) and generate cementitious products such as
calcium silicate hydrates (C-S-H) and calcium aluminate silicate
hydrates (CASH) which act as a glue to bind soil particles (Zha et al.,
2008; Tastan et al., 2011). These cementitious products mitigate the
swelling pressure of expansive soils (Nalbantoglu, 2004; Zha et al.,
2008) via the bonding effect of cementitious products between clay
particles, which can suppress the volumetric change (Tastan et al.,
2011; Estabragh et al., 2014) and increase the stiffness and strength of
soils (Cetin et al., 2010; Rosa et al., 2016). Therefore, it is important to
investigate the relationship between the chemical compositions and the
related ratios of the chemically stabilized soils and their corresponding
SWP and UCS values.
Fig. 15 shows that with an increase in CaO content, CaO/SiO2, CaO/
Al2O3, CaO/(Al2O3 + SiO2) ratios, SWP of the soil-additive mixtures
decrease consistently. The highest decrease in SWP values were
observed with the mixtures that had CaO content higher than 6% and
CaO/Al2O3 ratio that were higher than 1.5 (Fig. 15a and c). Fig. 15b
shows that mixtures with CaO/SiO2 ratios lower than 1 are not effective
to decrease the SWP of expansive soils. It was also observed that CaO/
(Al2O3 + SiO2) of the mixtures should be higher than 0.5 to yield a
significant decrease in SWP of soils (Fig. 15d).
On the other hand, UCS of chemically stabilized mixtures increases
with CaO content, CaO/SiO2, CaO/Al2O3, CaO/(Al2O3 + SiO2) ratios
(Fig. 16). Fig. 16 shows that CaO/(Al2O3 + SiO2) ratio of the stabilized
soil is the most effective ratio to increase the strength of soils. It was
observed that mixtures possessing ≥ 2% CaO contents doubled the UCS
of the Belle Fourche (B) clay used in the current study (Fig. 16a).
Fig. 16b and c present that CaO/SiO2 and CaO/Al2O3 ratios of the
chemically stabilized soils should be at least 0.5, and 1, respectively.
5. Conclusions
This study was conducted to investigate the effects of different
chemical additives on the engineering properties of an expansive Belle
Fourche clay (B). Chemical additives used in this study were class C fly
68
Applied Clay Science 146 (2017) 56–69
ash, class F fly ash and lime. Swelling pressure tests and unconfined
compression tests were performed on the mixtures i) at different clay-
additive mixing ratios (0%, 10%, 20%, and 30% for fly ashes and 0%,
4%, 8%, and 12% for lime) to determine the effects of chemical additive
amounts, ii) for different curing periods (0, 7 and 28 days of curing) to
determine the effect of curing time, and iii) at different freeze and thaw
(F-T) cycles (2, 4 and 8 cycles) to determine the effect of F-T. The
conclusions of this study are summarized below:
1. Belle Fourche clay has a unique geotechnical engineering behavior.
Its original UCS was relatively higher than typical expansive clay
materials while it posed high swelling pressure. This indicated that
factors impacting the strength and swelling pressure are different
from each other.
2. Addition of class C and class F fly ashes and lime decreased the
plasticity of the Belle Fourche clay, and resulted in the changes in
the soil classification from high plasticity clay (CH) to low plasticity
silt (ML). In addition, it was shown that a decrease in both liquid
limit and plasticity index (PI) yielded an increase in SWP and a
decrease in UCS of the mixtures.
3. Addition of class C fly ash (FC) significantly decreased the swelling
pressure of the cured samples. This can be attributed to the
formation of cementitious products due to self-cementitious proper-
ties of FC. In addition, class F fly ash (FF) also decreased the swelling
pressure of cured mixtures. However, the mitigation of swelling
pressure capacity of FF was lower than FC, most probably due to the
lower amount of CaO in the FF than FC. XRD analyses also showed
that C-S-H precipitation is considerably higher for soil mixtures
stabilized with C fly ash.
4. Belle Fourche clay with lime mixtures (BL) also showed a significant
decrease in the swelling pressure. The intensive cation exchange in
the soil matrix could occur quickly when the soil and lime were
mixed, and could be the main reason for this decrease. High amount
of calcium in the lime also could result in the acceleration of this
process. Lime was the most effective additive on decreasing the
swelling pressure of the Belle Fourche clay in the current study. This
finding also emphasizes the importance of high calcium content on
decreasing swelling pressure of expansive soils.
5. The swelling pressure of the fly ash-clay mixtures subjected to F-T
cycles yielded an increasing trend with increasing F-T cycles.
However, increasing the cycle from 4 to 8 times resulted in a
decrease in the swelling pressure. The initial increase could be
related to the breakage of the existing cementitious bonds during
the F-T cycles and the retardation of the formation of cementitious
products, whereas the later decrease may be attributed to cementa-
tion becoming more dominant than breakage. On the other hand,
the swelling pressures of the Belle Fourche clay with lime mixtures
(BL) did not change much during the F-T cycles. This can be
explained by the fact that one of the controlling factors of mitigating
the swelling potential within lime stabilized specimens believed to
be cation exchange, which was not affected by F-T cycling.
6. Unconfined compression strength (UCS) of Belle Fourche clay
increased with the addition of all three chemicals regardless of
their type. It was clearly observed that the UCS of all mixtures
increased with curing as well. Maximum UCS reached by BL samples
was higher than that of BFF samples. This could be attributed to the
fact that lime has higher calcium content than class F fly ash and
could have more cementitious products. Yet, although BFCs have
lower calcium content than BLs, the UCS of BFC samples were
higher than the UCS of BL samples. This could be attributed to the
fact that lime is only rich with calcium whereas class C fly ash is
both calcium and alumina-silica rich material. As high content of
these elements is known to result in higher self-cementitious and
pozzolanic properties, the UCS of BFC samples seemed to be higher
than that of BL samples.
7. The UCS of BFC30 and BL8 samples increased for 2 and 4 F-T cycles,
M. Dayioglu et al.
and decreased when exposed to more F-T cycles. This can be related
to the domination of cementitious product formation over the
weakening mechanisms in F-T cycles, which can reduce the strength
of soils during the first 2 cycles of F-T. Nevertheless, further increase
in the F-T cycles would switch the position of dominance resulting in
a strength loss of samples. On the other hand, the UCS of BFF20
consistently decreased with an increase in F-T cycles which is most
probably due to lack of adequate CaO content to initiate the
cementitious reactions.
8. CaO/SiO2, CaO/Al2O3, CaO/(SiO2 + Al2O3) ratios soil-additive
mixtures are good indicator of potential good pozzolanic reactions
to occur. Results of this study showed that stabilized mixtures
possessing high CaO content, CaO/SiO2, CaO/Al2O3, and CaO/
(SiO2 + Al2O3) ratios experienced a reduction in SWP and increase
in UCS.
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