EFFECTS OF FINES CONTENT ON THE STRENGTH AND STIFFNESS OF BIOPOLYMER TREATED LOW-PLASTICITY SOILS

Gedela, R; Indraratna, B; Medawela, S; Nguyen, TT

EFFECTS OF FINES CONTENT ON THE STRENGTH AND STIFFNESS OF BIOPOLYMER TREATED LOW-PLASTICITY SOILS

Gedela, R Indraratna, B

Medawela, S Nguyen, TT

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Publisher:: Australian Geomechanics Society
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Australian Geomechanics Journal, 2023, 58, (1), pp. 23-41
Issue Date:: 2023-03-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Gedela, R
dc.contributor.author	Indraratna, B https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2346-8250
dc.contributor.author	Medawela, S
dc.contributor.author	Nguyen, TT
dc.date.accessioned	2023-05-09T13:22:04Z
dc.date.available	2023-05-09T13:22:04Z
dc.date.issued	2023-03-01
dc.identifier.citation	Australian Geomechanics Journal, 2023, 58, (1), pp. 23-41
dc.identifier.issn	0818-9110
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/170293
dc.description.abstract	The use of biopolymers to enhance the engineering properties of soil has received increasing attention in recent years, however, the interactive role that biopolymers and the fines content of the soil play in governing the geotechnical parameters still requires insightful investigation, in relation to chemical soil treatment that can be ecologically detrimental. This paper examines the combined effects of Xanthan Gum (XG) derived from specific bacterial strains and the presence of clay fines content (kaolin) on the strength and stiffness of low plasticity soils, with special reference of cyclic traffic (road and rail) loading. In this study, fine sand is mixed with different contents of kaolin, whereby laboratory compression and tensile tests were conducted on natural (untreated) and XG-treated soil specimens. The results indicate that soil strength can be enhanced significantly when XG is added, however the effectiveness is a function of the kaolin content (KC). At an optimum XG content of 2% and a fines content increasing from 5% to 30%, split tensile strength increases from 230 to 750 kPa,while the unconfined compressive strength rises from 1.4 to 7.9 MPa, respectively. For XG content between 0.5% and 2%, the small strain stiffness of treated soil increases fourfold from 206 to 854 MPa.
dc.language	en
dc.publisher	Australian Geomechanics Society
dc.relation.ispartof	Australian Geomechanics Journal
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.56295/agj5811
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.subject	0905 Civil Engineering, 0914 Resources Engineering and Extractive Metallurgy
dc.title	EFFECTS OF FINES CONTENT ON THE STRENGTH AND STIFFNESS OF BIOPOLYMER TREATED LOW-PLASTICITY SOILS
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	58
utslib.for	0905 Civil Engineering
utslib.for	0914 Resources Engineering and Extractive Metallurgy
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology/School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*
dc.date.updated	2023-05-09T13:22:03Z
pubs.issue	1
pubs.publication-status	Published
pubs.volume	58
utslib.citation.issue	1

Abstract:

The use of biopolymers to enhance the engineering properties of soil has received increasing attention in recent years, however, the interactive role that biopolymers and the fines content of the soil play in governing the geotechnical parameters still requires insightful investigation, in relation to chemical soil treatment that can be ecologically detrimental. This paper examines the combined effects of Xanthan Gum (XG) derived from specific bacterial strains and the presence of clay fines content (kaolin) on the strength and stiffness of low plasticity soils, with special reference of cyclic traffic (road and rail) loading. In this study, fine sand is mixed with different contents of kaolin, whereby laboratory compression and tensile tests were conducted on natural (untreated) and XG-treated soil specimens. The results indicate that soil strength can be enhanced significantly when XG is added, however the effectiveness is a function of the kaolin content (KC). At an optimum XG content of 2% and a fines content increasing from 5% to 30%, split tensile strength increases from 230 to 750 kPa,while the unconfined compressive strength rises from 1.4 to 7.9 MPa, respectively. For XG content between 0.5% and 2%, the small strain stiffness of treated soil increases fourfold from 206 to 854 MPa.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/170293