Long-Term Durability of Ordinary Portland Cement and Polypropylene Fibre Stabilized Kaolin Soil Using Wetting-Drying and Freezing-Thawing Test

Soft soil stabilization frequently uses cement, lime, fly ash, etc., but very limited studies were conducted on the long-term durability of stabilized soil. The present study deals with the long-term durability of commercially available kaolin soil stabilized with ordinary Portland cement (OPC) and polypropylene fibre using a much more realistic approach, where the effect of weathering action can be observed in each cycle. Laboratory investigations were conducted to find the percentage loss of stabilized soil during wetting-drying and freezing-thawing tests, which are used as a durability indicator of cement and cement-fibre-stabilized soil. The stabilized soil encounters seasonal cycles of monsoon and summer in long run of its service life, which is simulated in rapid harsh weathering cycles in a laboratory setup. Kaolin soil samples were stabilized using different percentages of cement and mix of cement-fibre combination and were subjected to 12 cycles of wetting-drying and freezing-thawing cycles separately to determine the percentage loss of soil in accordance with the ASTM standards. Results of wetting-drying tests indicate that kaolin soil stabilized with cement and fibre combination survived up to 12 cycles, but only 10% cement + 0.5% fibre was durable against wetting-drying test based on percentage loss. Results of freezing-thawing tests indicate that only the kaolin soil stabilized with 10% cement, 5% cement + 0.5% fibre, and 10% cement + 0.5% fibre survived up to 12 cycles and are durable against freezing-thawing test based on percentage loss which satisfies the Portland Cement Association's durability specification.