Effect of fly ash and polypropylene fibres content on the soft soils

Abstract

Fly ash is a waste produced from the burning of coal in thermal power stations. The staggering increase in the production of fly ash and its disposal in an environmentally friendly manner is increasingly becoming a matter of global concern. Efforts are underway to improve the use of fly ash in several ways, with the geotechnical utilization also forming an important aspect of these efforts. An experimental program was undertaken to investigate the effects of multifilament and fibrillated polypropylene fibre on the compaction and strength behavior of CH class soil with fly ash in different proportions. The soil samples were prepared at two different percentages of fibre content (i.e. 0.5 and 1% by weight of soil) and two different percentages of fly ash (i.e. 10 and 15% by weight of soil). A series of tests were prepared including optimum moisture content and laboratory unconfined compression strength tests, compaction tests and Atterberg limits test. The fibre inclusions increased the strength of the fly ash specimens and changed their brittle behavior into ductile behavior.