Construction and Building Materials 18 (2004) 263–267

Influence of fly ash on strength behavior of typical soils

J. Prabakara,*, Nitin Dendorkarb, R.K. Morchhalec
a
Structural Engineering Research Centre (SERC), Taramani, Chennai, India
b
Maulana Azad College of Technology, Bhopal, India
c
Regional Research Laboratory (CSIR), Bhopal, India

Received 21 March 2001; received in revised form 24 November 2003; accepted 25 November 2003

Abstract

Construction of any infrastructure over a weak or a soft soil is highly typical on the geo-technical grounds as the soil undergoes
differential settlements, poor shear strength and high compressibility. Normally, the type of foundations varies depending upon
the availability of soil strata as well as cost involvement. Sometimes, it is essential to have a high rise building over a weak soil,
in such conditions, improvement of load bearing capacity of soil is very much essential. In these aspects, improvement of load
bearing capacity of soil has been improved by adopting various techniques like soil stabilization, adoption of reinforcement etc.
Generally, admixing technique in soil has an effective ground improvement because of its easy adaptability. Therefore, the present
investigation describes the behavioral aspect of soils mixed with fly ash to improve the load bearing capacity of the soil. Three
different types of soil have been considered using different percentage of fly ash ranging from 9 to 46% by weight of soil. The
main objectives of the present investigation is to assess the usefulness of fly ash as a soil admixture, and focused to improve the
engineering properties of soil to make it capable of taking more load from the foundation structures. This study also benefits the
effective use of fly ash and thus cost effective method for improving the soil properties. The present study covers the
characterization of soil, fly ash, compaction behavior, settlement, California bearing ratio, shear strength parameters (C and f)
and swelling characteristics, etc.
䊚 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Fly ash; Admixture; Soil; Cohesion; Stabilization; Swelling

1. Introduction resistance to swelling than the larger pieces placed

Soil stabilization technique is well established and
used in various applications like improvement of shear
strength, load bearing capacity, soil stabilization, filter,
drainage system, etc. Several investigators w1,2x have
reported their results of tri-axial tests on the cylindrical
specimens of sand containing thin horizontal layers of
extensible materials which influences the cohesion in
the sand causing improvement in its strength. The
improvement behavior of clay soil by geo-textile tech-
nique conducted by Krishnaswamy and coauthors w3,4x
concluded that the soil strength ratio increases with the
reinforcement aspect. Ramanatha Ayyar et al. w5x carried
out tests on coir fiber reinforced clay and the outcome
of the experiment was that the discrete fibers of small
diameter randomly distributed in soil offer a greater
*Corresponding author. Fax: q91-44-22542876.
E-mail address: jpraba@yahoo.com (J. Prabakar).
similarly. Mandal and Vishwamohan w6x have carried
out performance studies of expansive clay for three
types of clays by conducting California bearing ratio
test made use of coir fiber and jute fiber as geo-fabrics
and placed in layers. Until now various types of rein-
forcements have been tried by the research workers,
they are random inclusion of discrete fiber, geo-textiles
of woven and non-woven types, geo-synthetics and geo-
grids. Binquet and Lee w7x studied through aluminum
foil strip reinforcement that the load bearing capacity
has been enhanced by three times and even more with
moderate amount of its inclusion. There are several
techniques used with fly ash jute, coir, sisal, bamboo,
wood, palm leaf, coconut leaf, metal, nylon etc., for
improving the bearing capacity of the soil. Out of these
experimented materials, fly ash has got an attractive
prospect of using its abundantly available waste material
for improving the engineering properties of soil. In order

0950-0618/04/$ - see front matter 䊚 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2003.11.003
264 J. Prabakar et al. / Construction and Building Materials 18 (2004) 263–267

Table 1
Engineering properties of soils used in the study

S.no Soil properties Values

Soil-A Soil-B Soil-C
1 Specific gravity 2.30 2.23 2.30
2 Grain size analysis (%)
Gravel 1.55 35.85 3.00
Sand 2.00 10.95 7.20
Silt 67.00 37.78 44.90
Clay 29.45 15.42 44.90
3 Consistency limit
Liquid limit (%) 29.00 38.00 59.00
Plastic limit 15.00 22.00 29.00
Plastic index 14.00 15.00 30.00
4 Texture of classification based on
plasticity chart CL OL MH
5 Compaction study
Optimum moisture content (OMC), % 14.57 24.81 30.09
Maximum dry density (gmycc) 1.71 1.57 1.44
6 Shear parameters
Cohesion (Kgycm2) 0.250 0.185 0.600
Angle of shearing resistance 308159 258329 208159

to understand the behavior of expansive c– f soils acteristics of fly ash were determined with the help of
admixed with fly ash and to asses the suitability of fly scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Majority of the
ash as an important material for improving the soil particles are spherical and some are cinospheric nature.
properties, a series of experiments were carried out
using three types of soils with different percentage of 2.2. Parameters studied
fly ash. Specific gravity and compaction behavior were
studied. Shear strength and deviator stress were deter- The major parameters analyzed in this study are: (1)
mined for all the samples with or without fly ash ranging effect of fly ash on the strength behavior of soil and
from 9 to 46%. This article mainly deals with the effect (2) effect of fly ash content on the strength behavior of
of fly ash addition in these three types of soils on soil of different properties. By conducting preliminary
compaction; shear strength, CBR value and swelling pilot plant experiments, three kinds of soils were con-
characteristics to asses the usefulness of fly ash for sidered for this study. In each soil, fly ash of percentage
modifying the soil structure, to improve the load bearing viz. 9, 20, 28.5%, 33.5, 41.2 and 46% were added to
capacity. determine the engineering behavioral aspects. The inves-
tigation reports include the effect of (a) quantity of fly
2. Materials and experimental details ash, (b) type of soil on: (i) OMC; (ii) compaction; (iii)
strength; (iv) CBR; and (v) free swelling. All these
2.1. Materials tests were performed at OMC conditions and also
extended to the pure soil specimen as reference tests to
Soil samples namely soil A, B and C were collected
Table 2
from Raison road, Bhopal and campus of Regional Engineering properties of fly ash used in the study
Research Laboratory, Bhopal. The soil samples were
collected 20-cm below the earth surface. All the soil S.no Properties Values
samples studied for the engineering properties were 1 Specific gravity 1.73
reported in Table 1. Fly ash is obtained for MPEB, 2 Grain size analysis (%)
Sarani during the burning of pulverized coal to produce Gravel –
steam for generation of energy in Thermal Power Sta- Sand 69.00
tions was collected for the study. Indian coal contains Silt 25.00
Clay 6.00
30–40% of ash. In India, approximately 100 million 3 Compaction study
tones of fly ash including pond ash are being generated. Optimum moisture content (OMC), % 44.24
The fly ash has been collected from the pond, where Maximum dry density (gmycc) 0.94
ash is being disposed in the slurry form. The collected 4 Shear parameters
fly ash, characterized for physical and chemical prop- Cohesion (Kgycm2) 0.15
Angle of shearing resistance 298219
erties are reported in Table 2. The Morphological char-
 J. Prabakar et al. / Construction and Building Materials 18 (2004) 263–267 265

Table 3 of soil. It was observed that as the percentage of fly ash

Effect of soils mixed with different concentration of fly ash on OMC increased, the value of cohesion also increases in soil-
and maximum dry density
A and soil-B. However, the maximum value of cohesion
S.no % Fly ash Soil-A Soil-B Soil-C is observed in soil-C. The addition of fly ash in highly
cohesive soil decreases the cohesion value and increases
gd OMC gd OMC gd OMC
the angle of internal friction. The increase in the cohe-
1 0 1.71 14.57 1.57 24.81 1.43 30.09 sion of soil and fly ash matrix might be due to the soil
2 9.0 1.58 15.80 1.52 24.80 1.38 29.50 texture admixed with fly ash and its characteristics. The
3 20.0 1.57 17.98 1.41 25.20 1.35 29.50
4 28.5 1.44 20.40 1.39 25.76 1.31 30.05 friction angle varying with fly ash content shows a non-
5 35.5 1.39 22.30 1.34 28.30 1.24 31.90 linear variation. The variation in the cohesion and angle
6 41.2 1.36 25.20 1.30 29.80 1.25 33.30 of internal friction of soils mixed with different amount
7 46.0 1.34 27.20 1.29 30.20 1.21 234.26 of fly ash are reported in Table 4.
8 100.0 0.94 44.24 – – – –
3.3. Effect of fly ash in soils on deviator stress
make comparison between the strength behaviors of fly
ash admixed soil and to that of pure soil. Deviator stress of all soils mixed with fly ash indicates
the improvement in the deviator stress. Deviator stress
3. Results and discussions of fly ash admixed soils also increased with an increase
in confining pressure (s3). Failure deviator stress of
3.1. Effect of fly ash in soils on OMC and maximum pure soil-A is 3.68, 4.76, 5.96 kgycm2; soil-B is 2.82,
dry density 3.84, 4.74 kgycm2; and soil-C is 5.90, 6.53, 7.15 kgy
cm2, and the corresponding confining pressures are 0.2,
The effect of fly ash addition into the soils indicates 0.4 and 0.6 kgycm2, respectively. The maximum failure
that the specific gravity of soils mixed with different stresses for soil mixed with fly ash with 46.0% as of
concentration of fly ash is decreasing by the increasing soil-A is 5.15, 6.27, 7.43 kgycm2; soil-B is 4.9, 6.27,
amount of fly ash. Similar trend occurred in all the 7.36 kgycm2 and the corresponding confining pressures
soils’ they are: soil-A, the specific gravity ranging from are 0.2, 0.4 and 0.6 kgycm2, respectively. To express
2.303 to 1.860, soil-B from 2.23 to 1.960 and soil-C the results in terms of dimensionless quantity, a param-
from 2.30 to 1.830. The void ratio of soils depends eter ‘Strength Ration’ (R f ), which is defined as the
upon the shape of the grains, the uniformity of grain ration of the shear strength of fly ash mixed soil to the
size, and the conditions of sedimentation. The addition shear strength of pure soil has been selected,
of fly ash in soils changes the porosity and void ratio mathematically.
within the range of void ratio of fly ash and soils. At
maximum, the void ratio and porosity are free from Rf s(s1ys3)r Reinforced soily(s1ys3)r
moisture. At bulk density under compaction, the void
ratios and porosity are minimum. The shape of the Unreinforced soil.
compaction curves is similar to that of pure soils. For
all samples, the dry density decreases in water content The values of failure stress observed are maximum at
upto the point of optimum moisture content beyond 46% fly ash mixed. Effect of fly ash has a significant
which the increase in water content reduces further dry influence on the shear strength of samples. The experi-
density. For any particular percentage of fly ash addition mental study was conducted up to 46% addition of fly
in soil, the dry density decreases with an increase in fly
ash content. Maximum dry density is recorded for soil Table 4
Effect of soils mixed with different concentration of fly ash on Cohe-
free from fly ash where it ranges from 1.775 to 1.760 sion and angle of Internal friction
gycc and maximum dry density is lowest in the case of
100% fly ash. The maximum dry density and optimum S.no % Fly ash Cohesion (Kgycm2) Angle of internal
moisture content of soils mixed with fly ash are reported friction
in Table 3. Soil-A Soil-B Soil-C Soil-A Soil-B Soil-C
1 0 0.250 0.185 0.530 308159 258329 178109
3.2. Effect of fly ash in soils on shear strength
2 9.0 0.250 0.280 0.523 318369 248139 208269
3 20.0 0.270 0.300 0.475 33819 258129 218589
The addition of fly ash played an important role in 4 28.5 0.310 0.300 0.500 358569 288189 238159
the development of shear strength parameters C and f 5 35.5 0.340 0.330 0.480 348129 298389 268179
of the fly ash mixed soils. It is observed that the value 6 41.2 0.370 0.370 0.440 32869 298539 278229
of cohesion increases, while increasing the amount of 7 46.0 0.395 0.380 0.395 288389 308389 278569
8 100.0 – 0.150 – – 298219 –
fly ash. Similar trend has been observed in all the types
266 J. Prabakar et al. / Construction and Building Materials 18 (2004) 263–267

Table 5 liquid leading to a reduction in the free energy surface.

Effect of soils mixed with different concentration of fly ash on Cal- Free swelling of fly ash in kerosene is higher than in
ifornia Bearing ratio (CBR)
water. The test results indicate that the addition of fly
S.no % Fly ash CBR Value ash reduces the swelling in the soils. Fig. 1 shows the
differential free swelling of the soils. The graph is in
Soil-A Soil-B Soil-C
waveform and it may be due to the fly ash distribution
1 0 4.70 2.03 3.53 in soils was not uniform. In order to get the linearity in
2 9.0 7.00 5.47 4.40 the curve, further study may be required by ensuring
3 20.0 8.84 6.12 5.30
4 28.5 9.24 7.26 5.83 the uniform distribution of fly ash into the soil. Accord-
5 35.5 9.93 9.05 6.70 ing to Skempton, the significant change in the volume
6 41.2 10.67 10.84 7.73 of clay soil during shrinking or swelling is a function
7 46.0 11.60 11.41 8.24 of plasticity index and the quantity of colloidal clay
8 100.0 – 12.40 – partials present in soil. The free swelling characteristics
of high clay content of soil-C become zero when 80%
ash, which shows the increase in deviator stress. The of fly ash is mixed. The free swelling value of soil-A
evidence shows that the highly plastic soil develops a and soil-B become zero when the soils admixed with
structural bonding thus yielding a high cohesion value. 56.30 and 66.66% fly ash. Number of phenomenon may
be responsible for the overall behavior of swelling such
3.4. Effect of fly ash in soils on California bearing ratio as specific gravity admixture, particle size and shape of
(CBR) admixture, chemical reaction between fly ash and kero-
sene, particle interlocking forces etc.
The results of California bearing ratio (CBR) test
clearly shows that the addition of fly ash has influenced 4. Conclusions
the CBR value. The improvement of soil strength in
CBR due to addition of fly ash is the function of soil The experiments conducted to study the effect of fly
fly ash interlocking phenomena. Table 5 shows the CBR ash addition in soils on the strength behavior of soil
values of soil mixed with different concentration of fly under various tests conclude as follows. Addition of fly
ash. The CBR values of pure soils are 4.7, 2.03 and ash reduces the dry density of the soil due to the low
3.53; by adding fly ash upto 46%, the CBR value is specific gravity and unit weight of soil. The reduction
increased upto 11.41. in dry density can be in the order of 15–20%. The void
ratios and porosity varies by the increasing amount of
3.5. Effect of fly ash in soils on free swelling fly ash in soils. By adding fly ash up to 46%, the void
ratios of soils can be increased by 25%. The shear
Differential free swelling test for the soils admixed strength of fly ash mixed soil is improved due to the
with various content of fly ash was carried out using addition of fly ash. The shear strength is increased non-
100-ml jar. Ten grams of soil samples were taken with linearly with the increase in fly ash content in soil. The
different content of fly ash and placed into the jar and shear stress is increased non-linearly with increase in
then the jar was filled with water. The jar was kept for fly ash content. The increase in the fly ash lacks to
24 h and then the volume of sample present inside the interlock the soil particles due to which soil-fiber parti-
jar was noted. Similarly, same procedure was followed
using kerosene and the readings were recorded. The
differential free swelling of the soils admixed with
different content of fly ash has been calculated using
the following formula.

Free swellings

Volume of soil in wateryVolume of soil in kerosene

=100.
Volume of soil in kerosene

During interaction of soil with water, its volume

increases and this is due to the structure of clay mineral
its free surface carries a concentration of uncompensated
charges, resulting in the attraction of water molecules
adsorption. This cause is due to action of intermolecular Fig. 1. Effect of soils mixed with different concentration of fly ash
forces at the surface of the solid portion of the soil and of free swelling.
 J. Prabakar et al. / Construction and Building Materials 18 (2004) 263–267
cles are failed to act as a single coherent matrix. The
value of cohesion can be increased by the addition of
fly ash. The maximum value of cohesion is obtained as
0.39 kgycm2 in case of loamy soils and 0.66 kgycm2 in
the case of clayey soil. The increase in the fly ash
increases the value of cohesion and this variation is
linear. The value of cohesion can be increased by the
addition of fly ash in soils, which are not highly plastic.
In soil A and B, which fall under the above clause, the
cohesion can be increased up to 100% by the addition
of fly ash. CBR value of soil can be improved by the
addition of fly ash as compared to the pure soil which
would be beneficial especially for pavement etc. Based
on the extensive experimental study carried out, it was
noticed that the shear strength and the angle of internal
friction of soil admixed with fly ash gives a better
strength. Introduction of fly ash in soil also reduces
swelling in the soil. Swelling is reduced by increasing
amount of fly ash. Further increasing amount of fly ash
in soils leads to further reduction in swelling. This is
due to non-expansive characteristics of fly ash, and the
particle size and shape of fly ash, which leads to the
conclusion that the swelling behavior of the soil can be
effectively controlled by the addition of fly ash. From
this study, the fly ash may be effectively utilized in soil
to get improvement in shear strength, cohesion and thus
267
improvement in the bearing capacity. Fly ash addition
in soil can also be effectively used as the base materials
for the roads, back filling, and improvement of soil
bearing capacity of any structure.
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