Effect of Waste Marble Powder on UCS and Free Swell Index of Clayey Soil

Abstract

Clay shows an unusual behavior of excessive swelling and shrinking with in and out of water respectively, which makes the clay useless for the foundation because of possibility of excessive settlement of structures standing on it. In India, Indian Deccan plateau is the major source of clay which covers about 0.9 million km 2 of area [1] . Clay minerals contain silicates as the chief constituent in composition. T he authors choose Waste Marble Powder (WMP) which is the waste generated from the marble industry as the stabiliser for the research work. Calcium Oxide (CaO) is the major constituent of WMP which has binding properties itself. The disposal of the waste marble is a big problem for the marble industry. To solve this problem, the best solution is to use the marble waste for good cause like soil stabilisation. The authors added the marble waste in the soil as 10%, 20% and 30% by weight of soil. In the research work, the authors included unconfined compressive strength (UCS), and free swell index test for the comparison. Free swell index becomes zero with addition of WMP. UCS gains optimum value at 20% replacement.