Swelling Pressure and Free Swell Behaviour of an Expansive Black Cotton Soil Treated with Nano-Silica, Lime and Fly Ash

Authors

  • Allison Clara Mabangwe B. Tech Scholar, Department of Civil Engineering, Sharda University, Greater Noida, 201310, INDIA
  • Utkarsh Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Sharda University, Greater Noida, 201310, INDIA
  • Sphurty Raman Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Sharda University, Greater Noida, 201310, INDIA

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55544/jrasb.icaces.13

Keywords:

swelling pressure, free swell index, expansive soil, nano-silica, lime, fly ash, volume change

Abstract

The damage that expansive soils inflict on light structures and pavements stems from their swelling pressure and free swell, so the suppression of these properties is the primary aim of any stabilisation aimed at volume-change control. This paper reports the swelling pressure, free swell index and plasticity of a black cotton soil from Wardha district, Maharashtra, treated with seven nano-silica–lime–fly ash blends. The untreated soil was strongly expansive, with a swelling pressure of about 120 kPa, a free swell index near 95% and a plasticity index of 34%. Treatment curtailed all three sharply: the swelling pressure fell to roughly 8 kPa, the free swell index to about 15% and the plasticity index to 9% in the high-dosage blends, effectively removing the soil from the dangerously expansive category. The reductions in swelling pressure and free swell moved in step with the fall in plasticity, and a single mechanism - the replacement of adsorbed sodium and the contraction of the diffuse double layer by calcium, followed by pozzolanic cementation -accounts for all three. The treated soil meets the criteria for a low-expansion subgrade, addressing the principal hazard that black cotton soils pose to construction.

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References

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Published

2026-06-12

How to Cite

Mabangwe, A. C., Utkarsh, & Raman, S. (2026). Swelling Pressure and Free Swell Behaviour of an Expansive Black Cotton Soil Treated with Nano-Silica, Lime and Fly Ash. Journal for Research in Applied Sciences and Biotechnology, 5(1), 119–123. https://doi.org/10.55544/jrasb.icaces.13

Issue

Vol. 5 No. 1 (2026): Special Issue : ICACES 2025

Section

Articles

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Copyright (c) 2026 Allison Clara Mabangwe, Utkarsh, Sphurty Raman

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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