Stabilization of Marine Clay Soil Using Polyurethane

¹ Postgraduate Researcher, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor Bahru, Malaysia
² Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor Bahru, Malaysia
^{3 & 4} Associate Professor, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor Bahru, Malaysia

^* Corresponding author: samailasaleh@graduate.utm.my

Abstract

Many chemicals stabilisation techniques are being employed all over the world to improve the engineering and physical properties of the problematic soils and reduce the potential damages caused by them. Out of those chemical stabilisation technics, application of Polyurethane to improve the strength of marine clay was investigated in the laboratory. Characterization of the soil geotechnical properties was carried out by conducting laboratory test that includes natural moisture content, Atterberg limits, grains sizes analyses, specific gravity, moisture-density relationship, unconfined compressive strength (UCS), organic matter content and PH tests. Unconfined compressive strength test at optimum moisture content with varying the dose of the Polyurethane content was conducted to test the effectiveness of Polyurethane as a chemical stabiliser. The result of the preliminary tests of the sample shows that the soil has a liquid limit of 65%, plastic limit of 26% and plasticity index of 53%. The percentages of gravel, sand and fines in the marine clay sample were 0 %, 1.32 % and 98.68 % respectively %. The results of the UCS test also revealed that Polyurethane stabilisation improved the strength of marine clay by 230%. Thus, the improvement in strength of stabilised marine clay soil can significantly reduce the overall thickness of the pavement and total cost of the road construction in future.