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Sustainable Improvement of Tropical Residual Soil Using an Environmentally Friendly Additive

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Abstract

Many tropical residual laterites have relatively poor engineering properties due to the significant percentage of fine-grained soil particles that they contain, which are formed by the soil weathering process. The widespread presence of laterite soils in tropical regions often requires that some form of soil improvement be performed to allow for their use in various civil engineering applications, such as for road base or subbase construction. One of the most commonly utilized stabilization techniques for laterite soils is the application of additives that chemically react with the minerals that are present in soil to enhance its overall strength; effective soil stabilization can allow for the use of site-specific soils, and can consequently result in significant cost savings for a given project. With an increasing focus on the use of more environmentally friendly and sustainable materials in the built and natural environments, there is an emerging interest in eco-friendly additives that are an alternative to traditional chemical stabilizers. The current study examines the viability of xanthan gum as an environmentally friendly stabilizer that can improve the engineering properties of tropical residual laterite soil. Unconfined compressive strength (UCS) tests, standard direct shear tests, Brunauer, Emmett, and Teller (N2-BET) surface area analysis tests and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) tests were used to investigate the effectiveness of xanthan gum for stabilization of a tropical laterite soil. The UCS test results showed that addition of 1.5% xanthan gum by weight yielded optimum stabilization, increasing the unconfined compressive strength of the laterite soil noticeably. Similarly, direct shear testing of 1.5% xanthan gum stabilized laterite specimens showed increasing Mohr–Coulomb shear strength parameters with increases in curing time. From the FESEM results, it was observed that the stabilization process modified the pore-network morphology of the laterite soil, while also forming new white layers on the surface of the clay particles. Analysis of the test results indicated that xanthan gum stabilization was effective for use on a tropical residual laterite soil, providing an eco-friendly and sustainable alternative to traditional soil stabilization additives such as cement or lime.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to acknowledge financial support provided by the Ministry of Education Malaysia under Fundamental Research Grant R.J130000.7922.4S124, as well as financial support provided by the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geotechnic and Transportation Department, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), 81310, Skudai, Johor, Malaysia

    Ahmad Safuan A. Rashid

  2. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS, 39762, USA

    Nima Latifi

  3. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Delaware, 301 DuPont Hall, Newark, DE, 19716, USA

    Christopher L. Meehan & Kalehiwot N. Manahiloh

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  1. Ahmad Safuan A. Rashid
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Correspondence to Nima Latifi.

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Rashid, A.S.A., Latifi, N., Meehan, C.L. et al. Sustainable Improvement of Tropical Residual Soil Using an Environmentally Friendly Additive. Geotech Geol Eng 35, 2613–2623 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10706-017-0265-1

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