Performance and Durability Assessment of Stabilized Marine Clay Using Lime and Sustainable Industrial By-Products

Abstract

Marine clay is characterized by high plasticity, low strength, and poor durability, which limit its suitability for geotechnical engineering applications. Although previous studies have reported improvements in the strength of soft soils using lime and industrial by-products, limited attention has been given to the comparative evaluation of the durability of lime-GGBS and lime-RHA-stabilized mixes under lime leaching conditions. Therefore, the present study investigates the engineering performance and durability of marine clay stabilized using lime as the primary stabilizing agent and ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) and rice husk ash (RHA) as partial replacement materials. Lime was added at 0%, 3%, 6%, 9%, and 12%, while GGBS or RHA was incorporated at replacement at 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20%. The effects of stabilization on the plasticity, compaction, strength, and durability characteristics of marine clay were evaluated through Atterberg limits, compaction, unconfined compressive strength (UCS), California bearing ratio (CBR), and lime leaching tests. The influence of curing duration and wetting-drying cycles on lime retention in the stabilized soil mixes was also investigated. The results demonstrated a notable improvement in the soil characteristics. Among the investigated mixtures, MC+6% Lime+20% GGBS and MC+9% Lime+15% RHA exhibited the best engineering performance, achieving maximum UCS values of 225 kPa and 207 kPa, respectively. The lime leaching results indicated that the incorporation of GGBS and RHA, reduced calcium loss with increasing curing duration, thereby enhancing the durability of the stabilized soil. Overall, GGBS-stabilized mixes exhibited superior engineering and durability performance compared with RHA-stabilized mixes.