Resilient modulus and deviatoric stress of cemented soils treated with crushed waste ceramics (CWC) for pavement subgrade construction

Abstract

The behavior of resilient modulus of cemented lateritic soils treated with crushed waste ceramics and utilized as pavement underlain has been investigated under laboratory conditions. This is the measure of the rigidity of soils used as foundation materials. The rampant failures of pavements due to undesirable characteristics exhibited by the foundations have spurred this research work to enable a better understanding of the behavior of soils used as foundation materials and how best they can be handled or treated to ensure stability and durability of the structures. The soils were first characterized and found to belong to A-7, A-7-6, A-7 and A-7-5 group of soils according to the AASHTO classification method. Also, they were found, from basic experiments, to be highly plastic soils with high clay contents. The soils were treated with crushed waste ceramics in the proportion of 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 100%, 110% and 120% by weight of solid with a constant addition of 2.5% by weight ordinary cement. The results of the examination showed that the resilient modulus increased substantially with increased rate of crushed waste ceramics. This showed that crushed ceramic waste is a good pozzolanic material for soils stabilization in the construction of pavement foundations.