Peculiar Features of Lime-Treated Pyroclastic Soils through a Multi-Scale Experimental Investigation

Abstract

Soil-improvement techniques with binders are used in several geotechnical engineering applications as a sustainable solution for the reuse of waste soils. Due to their inherent complexity and their mechanical behaviour, pyroclastic soils are generally considered waste geomaterials in their natural state. Lime treatment of pyroclastic soils can be considered a viable solution for their reuse in geotechnical applications. In this paper, some peculiar features of the chemo-physical evolution and mechanical behaviour of lime-treated pyroclastic soils are evidenced through a multi-scale experimental investigation. While, for clayey soils, the fine fraction is mainly responsible for ion exchange and pozzolanic reactions induced by lime, for pyroclastic soils, pozzolanic reactions are dominant processes due to the low quantity of clay minerals along with the abundance of aluminates and silicates as the main constituents of their amorphous phase. The link between the phenomena detected at the microscale level, the mineralogical composition, and the macroscopic behaviour of two lime treated pyroclastic soils of different origin is explored through a multiscale approach.