EFFECTS OF STONE DUST ON STABILIZING EXPANSIVE SOIL

Abstract

This project focuses on the effective use of stone dust (SD), an industrial by-product, as a sustainable additive for Black cotton soil (BCS) stabilization. Varying proportions of stone dust such as 0%, 2%, 4%, 6%, 8%, 10%, 12%, 14%, 16%, 18%, and 20% by dry weight are incorporated into BCS to evaluate their impact on liquid limit (W_L), plastic limit (Wp), maximum dry density (γ_d(m)), optimum moisture content (W_opt), unconfined compressive strength (UCS), California bearing ratio (CBR), and ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV). The results indicate that SD significantly improves these geotechnical properties of BCS. Among all proportions, 12% SD emerges as the optimum replacement level, showing a notable improvement in both UCS and CBR. Additionally, correlations between UCS and CBR with UPV have been explored. The outcomes of this study are expected to contribute to the planning of field-scale applications for stabilizing BCS using SD.