Lab report on Compaction Test with stabilizer

THE UNIVERSITY OF ZAMBIA

SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL
ENGINEERING
CEE 4511
LAB REPORT
ON
COMPACTION WITH CEMENT AS STABILIZER

Submitted By:

Submitted To:

Siyingwa Daniel J

Mr Andrew Phiri

12032174

Department of Civil and

Environmental Engineering

Date Conducted: 3 rd December, 2015

Date due: 10th December, 2015

Lab report on Compaction Test with stabilizer

Table of Contents

1. TITLE
2. OBJECTIVES
3. APPARATUS REQUIRED
4. THEORY
5. PROCEDURE
6. OBSERVATION AND CALCULATION
7. RESULT
8. DISCUSSION
9. CONCLUSION
10. RECOMMENDATIONS
11. REFERENCES

Lab report on Compaction Test with stabilizer

TITLE: SOIL COMPACTION WITH PORTLAND CEMENT AS THE STABILIZER

OBJECTIVES

To determine the optimum moisture content and maximum dry density for a soil samples
compacted with 5% and 7.5% Portland cement as stabilizer.
To determine the effect of a stabilizer on the Optimum moisture content and Maximum dry
density of a soil sample
To compare the results obtained in compaction without stabilizer with those obtained in
compaction with stabilizer

APPARATUS REQUIRED
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Cement to act as stabilizer

20 mm B.S. sieve
Wide metallic surface for kneading of soils
Electronic balance with a least accuracy of 0.1g
Cylindrical metal mould with an internal diameter =105mm, an effective internal depth of
115mm and a volume of 1000cm2 , fitted on a removable baseplate and with a removable
collar of an effective height of about 50mm
6. A metal rammer with a 50mm diameter ramming face and weight of 2.5kg. the rammer has
a drop height of 300mm
7. Palette knife and a straight edge
8. Cylindrical CBR mould having a nominal internal diameter of 152 mmm and height
127mm. the mould is fitted with a detachable baseplate and removable extension
9. A metal rammer of 4.5 kg
10. A steel rod
THEORY
Portland cement stabilization is ideally suited for well graded aggregates with a sufficient
amount of fines to effectively fill the available voids space and float the coarse aggregate
particles. Portland cement is defined as a hydraulic cement which is manufactured as
homogeneous product by grinding together Portland cement clinker and calcium sulphate, and
which, at the discretion of the manufacturer, may contain up to 7.5% of mineral addition. The
cements hydrates in the presence of water to form hydrated calcium sulphates.
PROCEDURE
Test procedure for bulk density and moisture content
I.
II.

An air dried soil sample was taken and sieved through a 20mm B.S sieve, then of the passed
material, 5kg was measured.
5 % of the mass of Portland cement was then measured and added to the aggregate

Lab report on Compaction Test with stabilizer

III.
IV.

V.
VI.
VII.
VIII.
IX.
X.

300cm3 of water was added to it and mixed thoroughly.

The mold and baseplate were assembled and then weighed to the nearest 1 gram. The mold,
baseplate and collar were all assembled and the moist soil was placed in the mold and
compacted. The soil was put into the mold in three layers, one of an 855g weight at a time,
compacted with 27 free-falling blows of the 2.5kg rammer, making sure the blows were
evenly distributed over the soil
After compaction, the collar was removed and the excess soil was carefully struck off with
a straight rod
The weight of the mold- baseplate assembly with the soil then measure out and recorded
The soil was then removed from the mold and a small representative sample was collected
and put in the oven to dry for 24hours at 1100 Celsius for moisture content determination
A 6 % water increment was made to the rest of the soil through the addition of 100cm3 of
water
The procedure was repeated for 4 more times and the values obtained were recorded
The whole procedure was repeated with a unused soil sample with a mass of the cement
being 7.5%

OBSERVATIONS AND CALCULATIONS

Table 1: Water Content Determination for 5% cement
Name of test: Compaction Test with Stabilizer
Location of Test: Soil Mechanics Lab
Tested by: Group 1
Mass of soil Sample taken for analysis : 5000gm
Dec-2015
Sample Number
1
2
3

Date of testing: 94

Can No.
Weight of can(g)
Weight of can+Wet
soil(g)
Weight of can+Dry
soil(g)
Weight of dry soil(g)

89
7.00
19.00

28A
6.00
30.30

57
6.00
22.00

78
7.00
42.70

90
7.00
64.10

18.00

27.70

20.00

37.50

53.59

11.00

21.70

14.00

30.50

46.59

Weight of water(g)

1.00

2.60

2.00

5.20

10.51

Water content (%)

9.09

11.98

14.29

17.05

22.56

Lab report on Compaction Test with stabilizer

Table 2: Dry density determination for 5% cement

Assumed Water
content (%)
Water Content
(%)
Weight of
Mould(g)
Weight of
soil+mould
Weight of soil in
mould(g)
Wet
density,(g/cm3 )
Dry density
(g/cm3 )

6.00

10.00

14.00

18.00

22.00

9.09

11.98

14.29

17.05

22.56

4627.00

4627.00

4627.00

4627.00

4627.00

6493.00

6622.00

6745.00

6710.00

6700.00

1866.00

1995.00

2118.00

2083.00

2073.00

1.87

2.00

2.12

2.08

2.07

1.71

1.78

1.85

1.78

1.69

Table 3: Water content determination for 7.5% cement

Sample Number

Can No.
Weight of can(g)
Weight of can+Wet
soil(g)
Weight of can+Dry
soil(g)
Weight of dry soil(g)

95
6.60
48.40

79
6.80
45.10

99
6.90
64.10

19N
6.80
75.60

B4
6.50
82.20

45.50

41.30

56.90

65.70

70.10

38.90

34.50

50.00

58.90

63.60

Weight of water(g)

2.90

3.80

7.20

9.90

12.10

Water content (%)

7.46

11.01

14.40

16.81

19.03

Lab report on Compaction Test with stabilizer

Table 2: Dry density determination for 5% cement

6.00
Water Content
(%)
Weight of
Mould(g)
Weight of
soil+mould
Weight of soil in
mould(g)
Wet
density,(g/cm3 )
Dry density
(g/cm3 )

6.00
7.46

10.00
11.01

14.00
14.40

18.00
16.81

22.00
19.03

3114.00

3114.00

3114.00

3114.00

3114.00

4874.00

4953.00

5069.00

5020.00

4997.00

1760.00

1839.00

1955.00

1906.00

1883.00

1.76

1.84

1.96

1.91

1.88

1.64

1.66

1.71

1.63

1.58

RESULTS

Optimum moisture content =13%

Maximum dry density = 1.88g/cm3

Lab report on Compaction Test with stabilizer

Optimum Moisture content = 14% Maximum dry density = 1.72g/cm3

DISCUSSION
In this investigation, results were obtained for samples with 5% and 7.5% cement content by mass.
For the sample with 5% cement, the maximum dry density found (1.88g/cm3 ) was higher than that
found for 7.5%. (1.72g/cm3 ). However, there was a higher Optimum moisture content by the
sample with 7.5% cement (14%) than that with 5% cement. (13%). When compared with the
parameters obtained without a stabilizer, the maximum dry density obtained without stabilizer
(1.92g/cm3 ), was higher than both values obtained with the stabilizer.
To improve the results obtained with stabilization using cement, it would have been necessary to
first reduce the plasticity of the soil using lime. According to SATCC standards, as a guide,
materials suitable for cement treatment will normally have a low Plasticity Index of less than 10.
When a material has a higher plasticity, it must first be treated with lime before stabilizing with
cement. Stabilizing with cement directly is usually unsatisfactory. The use of high cement content
in pavement construction such as 5% or more is discouraged in SATCC standards, both for
economic and for performance considerations. Higher cement content can lead to greater cracking
potential which may influence the overall performance of the pavement. Trial mixes in the
laboratory should be made for a range of cement contents typically 2%, 4% and 6% by weight as
mix moisture contents appropriate to field mixing.
Addition of lime has been found very effective on many materials with high plasticity, normally
greater than 10, which will not respond so well to cement treatment. It may be used in order to
lower the Plasticity of materials otherwise within specified limits, as a pre-treatment of materials
that might then be treated with cement to produce suitable building material.

Lab report on Compaction Test with stabilizer

There were other factors which could have led to a lower maximum dry density in the stabilized
soil sample. Other causes of differences could have been due to delays between the times when
cement was added and compaction started. In cement stabilized soils, hydration process takes
immediately after the cement comes into contact with water. This process involves hardening of
the soil mix which means that it is necessary to compact the soil mix as soon as possible. Any
delays in compaction may result in hardening of stabilized soil mass and therefore extra
compaction effort may be required to bring the same effect as that for a sample without stabilizer.
The other reason why the first value was higher is because in compacting with the stabilizer, the
same sample was used over and over while the cement in the sample was slowly curing. This may
lead to serious bond breakage and hence loss of strength. Another reason for such results could be
attributed to the fact that the two compaction tests were done under different time intervals and
there were slight variations in the samples used. The Optimum moisture content obtained without
the stabilizer was lower (12%) than that obtained with a stabilizer. This is because in stabilized
soils, enough moisture content is essential not only for hydration process to proceed but also for
efficient compaction.
CONCLUSION
With reference to the objectives of the experiment, it was found that the Optimum Moisture
Content for the soil sample was 13% and the maximum dry density was 1.88g/cm3 for 5% cement
content. For the 7.5% cement sample Optimum Moisture Content was 14% and the maximum dry
density was 1.72g/cm3 . Stabilization with cement decreased the MDD while there was an increase
in the OMC as cement was increasingly added. Finally, stabilized mixture had a lower maximum
dry density than that of unstabilized soil for a given degree of compaction and a higher Optimum
moisture content.
RECOMMENDATIONS
It is recommended that in the future, the practical involving the stabilizer and that without the
stabilizer be carried out on the same day to allow for a higher degree of consistency when
comparing the results and to ensure that the samples used are very similar. Also that the CBR test
be carried on the stabilized soil sample as well since in this case, it was not done.
REFERENCES
1. Ministry of Works(CML), Tanzania (2000), Laboratory Testing Manual 2000,
novumGrafisk AS,Skjetten
2. SATCC (1998) Standard Specifications for Road and Bridge Works, Division of Roads
and Transport Technology CSIR
3. Venkatramaiah C., Geotechnical Engineering 3rd edition, New Age Internatio na l
Publisher, India.