Triaxial Shear Strength of an Expansive Black Cotton Soil Stabilised with Nano-Silica, Lime and Fly Ash

Authors

  • Dalitso Nyirenda B. Tech Student, 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.17

Keywords:

triaxial test, shear strength, cohesion, angle of internal friction, expansive soil, nano-silica, Mohr–Coulomb

Abstract

The shear strength parameters that govern the stability of embankments and foundations on expansive soils are best obtained from triaxial testing. This paper reports the cohesion intercept and the angle of internal friction of a black cotton soil from Wardha district, Maharashtra, treated with seven nano-silica–lime–fly ash blends and cured for 7 to 90 days. The untreated soil was weakly frictional and modestly cohesive, with a cohesion of about 45 kPa and a friction angle near 14°. Stabilisation transformed both parameters: in the richest mix (M7) the cohesion rose to 129 kPa and the friction angle to almost 29° after 90 days of curing. The cohesion gain was the larger in proportion and continued throughout the curing period, identifying cementitious bonding as the principal source of strength, while the rise in friction angle reflected the coarser, flocculated and better-packed fabric of the treated material. Mohr–Coulomb failure envelopes for the treated soil stood far above that of the parent clay. The strengthened parameters substantially enlarge the bearing and slope-stability margins available to the designer, and the dominance of cohesion is consistent with the calcium-silicate-hydrate cementation responsible for the strength gain.

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References

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Published

2026-06-12

How to Cite

Nyirenda, D., Utkarsh, & Raman, S. (2026). Triaxial Shear Strength of an Expansive Black Cotton Soil Stabilised with Nano-Silica, Lime and Fly Ash. Journal for Research in Applied Sciences and Biotechnology, 5(1), 140–144. https://doi.org/10.55544/jrasb.icaces.17

Issue

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

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2026 Dalitso Nyirenda, 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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