Building MLR, ANN and FL models to predict the strength of problematic clayey soil stabilized with a combination of nano lime and nano pozzolan of natural sources for pavement construction

Abstract

The current study aims at predicting the strength of the problematic clayey soils treated with combinations of pozzolan of natural sources and lime powder when added as soil additives at a nano scale. Multiple linear regression (MLR), artificial neural networks (ANN) and fuzzy logic (FL) tools were employed in the analytical study. The variables of the present study include the following: nano pozzoaln of natural source (NNP) content, nano lime content (NL), median particle size of NNP, active silica content of NNP (SiO_2active), Initial liquid limit (ILL) and initial plastic limit (IPL) of the investigated soils. NNP was added at five percentages, i.e. 0%, 0.5%, 1%, 1.5% and 2%, while NL was added at five percentages, i.e. 0%, 0.3%, 0.6%, 0.9% and 1.2%. Three median particle sizes namely 50, 100 and 500 nm size were studied. Based on the different investigated soils and combinations, 120 soil mixtures were prepared and tested. California bearing ratio (CBR) and plasticity index (PI) were particularly examined. CBR tests were conducted at a soaked condition on specimens compacted to a maximum dry density (MDD) at the optimum moisture content (OMC). PI values were obtained following the Atterberg limits test. Based on the results of the performance criteria of the developed predictive models, it can be concluded that the CBR and PI of the expansive clayey soils can be effectively predicted using ANN and FL techniques. The results obtained by MLR were far from those obtained by both ANN & FL. In addition, ANN tool was slightly more accurate than FL as far as prediction of CBR and PI is concerned. The higher capability of ANN & FL models in predicting CBR & PI values, which generally obtained through time-consuming and expensive tests, could be useful for geotechnical engineers to assess or design a new pavement project. Further, it is recommended to do a re-evaluation of the current study in future, particularly when more data is available in the literature.