Impact of Marble Powder and Brick Dust on Engineering Properties of Black Cotton Soil

The present article is based on one of my research on the soil stabilization. It is an experimental analysis of the effects of waste/by-product materials on the black cotton soil.

Materials and Methodology:

Materials:

For the consideration of environment-friendly and waste/by-product materials we selected marble powder and brick dust as a stabilizer for this project.

Marble Powder:

Marbles Powder produces from the cutting and grinding of marble stone. It is having very fine particles along with non-plastic characteristics. The use of traditional techniques to stabilize the soil faces problems like high cost, and/or environmental issues. The improvement of soil by marble dust is an alternative solution as it is a by-product material and available at very cheap rates. For the stabilization we have utilized Dolomite Powder which is a form of Marble Powder having a high degree of purity and whiteness.

Brick Dust:

Brick Dust is a waste material produced at the traditional brick production kiln. It is a fine particle material available at the place of burning after removal of the burnt bricks. It contains mix properties of clay and lime as they are used to form and produce bricks. Although having clay itself in the structure, it helps to improve the engineering properties. It is easily available at cheap rates which makes it an economical solution for stabilization.

Methodology:

• During the project, only engineering properties were analyzed for the locally available Black cotton soil.
• For the identification of the optimum amount of mix after studying several previous pieces of research we have selected the replacement of the soil by 30%, 40% and 50% of its weight by the stabilizers. So for the analysis of engineering properties following mix were prepared.

1. 70% Black cotton soil & 30% Marble Powder.
2. 60% Black cotton soil & 40% Marble Powder.
3. 50% Black cotton soil & 50% Marble Powder.
4. 70% Black cotton soil & 30% Brick Dust.
5. 60% Black cotton soil & 40% Brick Dust.
6. 50% Black cotton soil & 50% Brick Dust.

• Following test were conducted for the analysis

1. Grain Size Analysis (IS 2720 – PART IV - 1985)
2. Atterberg’s  Limit (IS 2720 – PART V - 1985)
3. Modified Proctor Test (IS 2720 – PART VII - 1983)
4. Linear Shrinkage (IS 2720 – 20 - 1992)
5. Free Swell (IS 2720 – 40 - 1977)

Results:

Atterberg’s Limit:

• Marble Powder

• Brick Dust

Modified Proctor Test:

• Marble Powder

• Brick Dust

Linear Shrinkage:

• Marble Powder

	Black Cotton Soil	70% Soil + 30% Marble Powder	60% Soil + 40% Marble Powder	50% Soil + 50% Marble Powder
Shrinkage %	23.7	6	5	4

• Brick Dust

	Black Cotton Soil	70% Soil + 30% Brick Dust	60% Soil + 40% Brick Dust	50% Soil + 50% Brick Dust
Shrinkage %	23.7	9.4	7.8	7.3

Free Swell Index:

• Marble Powder

Sr. No.		Black Cotton Soil	70% Soil + 30% Marble Powder	60% Soil + 40% Marble Powder	50% Soil + 50% Marble Powder
1	Initial Volume	10 ml	10 ml	10 ml	10 ml
2	Final Volume	15.05 ml	10 ml	10 ml	10 ml
3	Index	50.50%	00%	00%	00%

• Brick Dust

Sr. No.		Black Cotton Soil	70% Soil + 30% Brick Dust	60% Soil + 40% Brick Dust	50% Soil + 50% Brick Dust
1	Initial Volume	10 ml	10 ml	10 ml	10 ml
2	Final Volume	15.05 ml	10 ml	10.50 ml	10 ml
3	Index	50.50%	00%	05%	00%

Overall Analytics:

70% Soil + 30% Marble Powder

The Liquid limit value decreased by 5.6%.

The Plastic limit value decreased by 1.527%.

The Plasticity index is decreased by 4.08%.

The Maximum dry density increased by 11.69%.

Optimum moisture content is decreased by 5.72%.

Linear shrinkage value decrease by 17.7%.

The Free swell index reduced.

60% Soil + 40% Marble Powder

The Liquid limit value decreased by 9.48%.

The Plastic limit value decreased by 3.313%.

The Plasticity index is decreased by 6.17%.

The Maximum dry density increased by 13.45%.

Optimum moisture content is decreased by 5.94%.

Linear shrinkage value decrease by 18.7%.

The Free swell index reduced.

50% Soil + 50% Marble Powder

The Liquid limit value decreased by 15.55%.

The Plastic limit value decreased by 7.597%.

The Plasticity index is decreased by 7.956%.

The Maximum dry density increased by 14.05%.

Optimum moisture content is decreased by 6.8%.

Linear shrinkage value decrease by 19.7%.

The Free swell index reduced.

70% Soil + 30% Brick Dust

The Liquid limit value decreased by 9.5%.

The Plastic limit value decreased by 3.937%.

The Plasticity index is decreased by 5.57%.

The Maximum dry density increased by 5.84%.

Optimum moisture content is decreased by 2.53%.

Linear shrinkage value decrease by 14.3%.

The Free swell index reduced.

60% Soil + 40% Brick Dust

The Liquid limit value decreased by 10.5%.

The Plastic limit value decreased by 4.127%.

The Plasticity index is decreased by 6.38%.

The Maximum dry density increased by 9.64%.

Optimum moisture content is decreased by 3.78%.

Linear shrinkage value decrease by 15.9%.

The Free swell index reduced.

50% Soil + 50% Brick Dust

The Liquid limit value decreased by 13.7%.

The Plastic limit value decreased by 5.467%.

The Plasticity index is decreased by 8.24%.

The Maximum dry density increased by 13.27%.

Optimum moisture content is decreased by 6.39%.

Linear shrinkage value decrease by 16.4%.

The Free swell index reduced.

Concluding Remarks:

It is identified from the results that both of the stabilizers show improvement in the engineering properties of the black cotton soil. It is advisable to use 40 or 50% of the marble powder as it shows more positive results compared to brick dust. Considering economic view 40% marble powder can apply to a small projects to maintain the project economy as in recent times marble powder is also started being used in other construction practices.

Note:

The presented data of the laboratory experiments are genuine and only available for future study for academic purpose only.

References:

1. Sachin N. Bhavsar, Hiral B. Joshi, Priyanka K. Shrof and Ankit J. Patel, Effect of Burnt Brick Dust on Engineering Properties on Expansive Soil, International Journal of Research in Engineering and Technology, eISSN: 2319-11636, pISSN: 2321-7308, Vol. 03, Issue 04, 2014, p 433-441.


2. Sachin N. Bhavsar, Hiral B. Joshi, Priyanka K. Shrof and Ankit J. Patel, Impact of Marble Powder on Engineering Properties of Black Cotton Soil, IJSRD Vol. 02, Issue 02, 2014, eISSN: 2321-0613, p 136-139.