Laboratory Evaluation of Silty Soils Stabilized with Lignosulfonate

摘要

Lignosulfonate has been utilized mainly for the purpose of granular road dust control. The use of lignosulfonate has been limited in current soil stabilization practices, although it can be considered as an alternative soil stabilizer for improving selected soil engineering properties. In this study, homogeneously diluted lignosulfonate was mixed with two types of silty soils with the goal of improving their strength and durability. Five laboratory tests were performed on unstabilized and lignosulfonate stabilized soils, including: (1) Proctor compaction test, (2) unconfined compressive strength test, (3) freeze-thaw durability test, (4) wet-dry durability test, and (5) scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis. The unconfined compressive strength test results demonstrated that a low dosage of lignosulfonate and water was required to improve the strength of sandy silt with gravel. Based on the outcomes from the durability tests, lignosulfonate improved wet-dry resistance for both silty soil types while also producing significant improvement in freeze-thaw durability for sandy silt with clay. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis indicated that lignosulfonate was capable to create a bonding among soil particles.