Sulfate Effects on Lime and Sulfate-Resistant Cement-Stabilized Expansive Soil

It is well demonstrated in the past that the lime or sulfate-resistant cement effectively controls the volume change and increases the strength of stabilized expansive soil due to both soil modification and pozzolanic reactions. Also, the rapid industrialization has increased the chances of contamination of stabilized soils with sulfate which significantly deteriorates the stabilized soil. Therefore, the effect of sodium sulfate intrusion into the lime and sulfate-resistant cement-stabilized soil on the volume change and strength behavior is brought out in this study. To achieve this objective, the expansive soil was stabilized with lime and sulfate-resistant cement and cured for 1, 7, and 28 days. Upon completion of the required curing period, the stabilized soils were contaminated with sulfate solutions of 5,000, 10,000, and 20,000 ppm for a period of 30 days before evaluating the volume change and strength properties. The current study reveals that the performance of the sulfate-resistant cement-stabilized specimens cured for long periods (28 days) was better than the lime-stabilized expansive soil in terms of the strength.