The Permeability of Portland Cement-Stabilized Clay Shale

Abstract

Abstract Research on the effect of Portland cement on the improvement of problematic soil has been extensively studied in many years and many places. Soil stabilization using cement has improved the strength and durability, enhanced the performance of the problematic soil such as clay shale. However, most studies in the field of Portland cement-stabilized soil have only focused on strength and durability improvement and the information on permeability characteristic has not adequately provided. This study aimed to investigate the effect of Portland cement stabilization on the consistency limits and permeability of the clay shale. The Portland cement content was varied from 2% to 10% by weight of dry soil. The stabilized clayshale specimens were cured for seven days before the testing. Constant head permeability method (method A) of the ASTM D5084 was used to determine the coefficient of permeability. The result shows that both the liquid limits and plastic limits decrease with increased Portland cement content, hence the plasticity index of the soil-PC mixing decrease. The permeability coefficient of the soil mixed with 2% of cement increased about 14 times greater than the untreated soil. Increase in cement content tends to decrease the coefficient of permeability.