CLAY SOIL AND SOIL

STABILIZATION

Roesyanto

Seminar Nasional
Pendekatan Geokimia dalam konstruksi guna meningkatkan kekuatan dan
mutu beton & tanah dalam mendukung keandalan dan usia layanan struktur
bangunan
 1 INTRODUCTION
• For engineering purposes, soil is defined as an
uncemented aggregate of mineral grains and decayed
organic matter (solid particles) with liquid and gas in
the empty spaces between the solid particles.
• Soil is used as a construction material in various civil
engineering projects, and it supports structural
foundations.
• Soil mechanic is the branch of science that deals with
the study of the physical properties of soil and the
behavior of soil masses subjected to various types of
forces.
• Soil engineering is the application of the principles of
soil mechanics to practical problems.
 1 INTRODUCTION
Topics to be discussed:
• Soil particle size
• Atterberg Limits
• Classification of Soil
• Description of an Individual Soil Particles
• Basic Structural Units of Clay
• Types of Clay
• Interaction between Water and Clay Minerals
• Specific Surface
• Case Study
2. SOIL-PARTICLE SIZE
 2 SOIL-PARTICLE SIZE

• The particle-size classification systems in a graphic

form.
 2 SOIL-PARTICLE SIZE
• Gravels are pieces of rocks with occasional particles
of quartz, feldspar, and other minerals.
• Sand particles are made of mostly quartz and
feldspar.
• Silts are the microscopic soil fractions that consist of
very fine quartz grains and some flake-shaped
particles that are fragments of miscaceous minerals.
• Clays are mostly flake shaped microscopic and
submicroscopic particles of mica, clay minerals
 3 Atterberg Limits
PI  wl  w p
wn  w p
Liquidity Index LI 
wl  w p

• Liquid limit  LI = 1
• Liquid state  LI > 1
• Plastic limit  LI = 0
• Plastic state  0 < LI < 1
• Solid state  LI < 0 
brittle solid
• The plasticity index indicating the magnitude of water content
range over which the soil remains plastic.
• The liquidity index indicating the nearness of a natural soil to the
liquid limit.
• wn = natural water content
Relation Between Plasticity Index and Clay Fraction
Activity of a clay = plasticity index/(% by weight finer than 2 m)
Activity increase  swelling potential of clay increase
 Engineering Use of Atterberg Limits
• The Atterberg limits and related indices have proved to
be very useful for soil identification and classification.
• The limits are often used directly in specification for
controlling soil for use in fill and in semiemperical
methods of design.
• The plasticity index and the liquidity index are
particularly useful characteristics of soil.
 Engineering Use of Atterberg Limits
• All the limits and indices with the exception of the
shrinkage limit are determined on soils that have been
thoroughly worked into a uniform soil-water mixture.
• The limits therefore give no indication of particular
fabric or redisual bonds between particles which may
have been developed in the natural soil but are
destroyed in preparing the specimen for the
determinations of the limits.
 4. Classification by Engineering Behavior
• At the present time, two more elaborate classification
systems are commonly used by soil engineers.
• Both systems take into consideration the particle-size
distribution and Atterberg limits.
• They are the AASHTO classification system and the
Unified classification system.
• The AASHTO classification system is used mostly by
state and county highway departments.
• Geotechnical engineers generally prefer the Unified
system.
AASHTO Classification System
 AASHTO Classification System
• Figure below shows a plot of the range of the liquid limit
and the plasticity index for soils that fall into groups A-2,
A-4, A-5, A-6 and A-7.
 AASHTO Classification System
• To evaluate the quality of a soil as a highway subgrade
material, a number called the goup index (GI ) is also
incorporated with the groups and sub groups of the soil.
• The group index is given by the Equation 3.1:

GI = (F – 35)[0.2 + 0.005(LL – 40)] + 0.01(F – 15)(PI – 10)

where: F = percent passing the No.200 sieve
LL = liquid limit
PI = plasticity index
Unified Classification System
 Unified Classification System
For a fine-grained soil, go to Table and Figure below to
obtain the group symbol.
5. Description of an Individual Soil

Particle
 5.1 Appearance of a Soil Particle
 Particle Size
• The size of a particle, other than a sphere or cube,
cannot be uniquely defined by a single linear dimension.
The meaning of “particle size” therefore depends on the
dimension that was recorded and how it was obtained.
• Two common ways of determining particle size are
sieve analysis for particles larger than approximately
0.06 mm and a hydrometer analysis for smaller particles
(sieve # 200  0.075mm).
• In describing the size of a soil particle, we can cite either
a dimension or a name that has been arbitrarily assigned
to certain size range.
• Figure below are plotted the sizes of various particles and the
ranges of some methods of detecting particle size.
• A widely used soil particle size classification is shown at the top of
Figure.
• A study of this figure will give perspective to particle size and its
determination.
 5.2 Particle Shape
• The preceding discussion noted that the size of a particle could
be given by a single number only when the particle was
equidimensional, as a cube or sphere.
• This situation is not too far from true for soil particles in the silt
range and coarser, but it is far from true for particles in the clay
size range.
 5.3 Composition of a Soil Particle
• The nature and arrangement of the atoms in a soil
particle – i.e., composition - have a significant influence
on permeability, compressibility, strength, and stress
transmission in soils, especially in fine-grained soils.
• A soil particle may be either organic or inorganic.
• Little is known about the composition of organic soil.
• In general, however, most of the particles in the silt range and
coarser are approximately equidimensional and most of those in
the clay size are far from equidimensional.
• The most common shape for clay size particles is platey, as are
the kaolinite particle and illite particle shown in Figure below.
 6. Basic Structural Units of Clay
• Clay soils are fine grained. Silts are both granular and
fine grained.
• The grain size distribution and the grain shape effect
the engineering behavior of silts. The presence of
water is relatively unimportant in silts behavior.
• In contrast, the grain size distribution has relatively
little influence on the engineering behavior of clay
soils, but water markedly affects their behavior.
• Clay minerals are very small particles which are very
active electrochemically.
• As the amount of clay increases, the behavior of the
soil is increasingly governed by the properties of the
clay.
 6. Basic Structural Units of Clay
• Clay minerals are complex aluminum silicates
composed of two basic units:(1) silica tetrahedron
and (2) alumina octahedron.
• Each tetrahedron units consists of four oxygen atoms
surrounding a silicon atom.
• The combination of tetrahedral silica units gives a
silica sheet.
 Basic Unit-Silica Tetrahedra
Ion positif (kation) & Ion negatif (anion)

oksigen -- (Si2O10)-4
1 Si
-- ++++
-- -- Replace four
4O Oxygen with
hydroxyls or
combine with
positive union

Tetrahedron
Plural: Tetrahedra
Hexagonal
hole
(Holtz and Kovacs, 1981)
 6. Basic Structural Units of Clay
• The octahedral units consists of six hydroxyls
surrounding an aluminum atom, and the combination of
the octahedral aluminum hydroxyls units gives an
octahedral or alumina sheet.
• This is also called a gibbsite sheet.
• Sometimes magnesiun replaces the aluminum atoms in
the octahedral units; in that case, the octahedral sheet is
called a brucite sheet.
• When the silica sheet is stacked over the octahedral
sheet, these oxygen atoms replace the hydroxyls to
balance their charges.
 Basic Unit-Octahedral Sheet
- OH-
OH OH-
1 Cation Al+++
OH-
6 O or OH OH- OH-
Gibbsite sheet: Al3+
Al2(OH)6, 2/3 cationic spaces are filled
One OH (ion hidroksil) is surrounded Different
by 2 Al: Dioctahedral sheet cations

Brucite sheet: Mg2+

Mg3(OH)6, all cationic spaces
are filled
One OH is surrounded by 3 Mg:
Trioctahedral sheet

(Holtz and Kovacs, 1981)

Basic Structural Units of Clay
 Basic Structural Units of Clay
• The structures presented in this
chapter are idealized.
• The typical crystal in a clay is
a complex structure similar to
the idealized arrangement but
usually having irregular
substitution and interlaying.
• Figure beside shows a group
of basic silicate units.
• The atoms are drawn to scale
on the basis of the radii in
units of angstroms give in
Figure h.
• A study of the valences in
Figure shows that the
tetrahedron and two
octahedrons are not
electrically neutral and
therefore do not exist as
isolated units.
• Gibbsite and brucite are
electrically neutral and exist in
nature as such.
 7. Type of Clay

• All clay minerals consist of the two basic sheets :

(1) Silica tetrahedron
(2) Alumina octahedron
• The variations in the basic sheet structures make up
the dozens of clay minerals which have been
identified.
• The two basic sheets are stacked together in certain
unique ways and with certain cations present in the
octahedral and tetahedral sheets.
• For engineering purposes:
It is sufficient to describe only a few of the more
common clay minerals which are found in clay soils.
 7. Type of Clay
 Two – Layer Sheet
• If we stack a brucite
unit on top of a silicate
unit we get serpentine.
• This Figure shows both
the atomic structure and
the symbolic structure.
 Two – Layer Sheet
Combining in a similar
way gibbsite and silica
gives the mineral
kaolinite.
 Two – Layer Sheet
The actual mineral particle does not
usually consists of only a few basic
layers as suggested by the symbolic
structures.
• The kaolinite particle shown
contains about 115 of the two-
layer units. The linkage between
the basic two-layer units consists
of hydrogen bonding and
secondary valence forces.
• In the actual formation of the
sheet silicate minerals the
phenomenon of isomorphous
substitution frequently occurs.
  Two – Layer Sheet
• Isomorphous (meaning “same form”) substitution consists
of the substitution of one kind of atom for another. For
example, 1 of the sites filled with silicon atom in the
structure could be occupied by an aluminum.
• Such an example of isomorphous substitution could occur if
an aluminum atom were more readily available at the site
than a silicon atom during the formation of the mineral.
• In the kaolinite mineral there is very small amount of
isomorphous substitution (1 in 400). One possibility being
one aluminum replacing one silicon in the silica sheet of the
mineral.
• Kaolinite is the most important and most common two-layer
mineral encountered by the engineer.
 Two – Layer Sheet
• Halloysite, having essentially the same composition and
structure as kaolonite.
• The main difference between halloysite and kaolinite is
the presence of water between the basic sheets of
halloysite, which results in halloysite existing in tubular
particles.
 Three – Layer Sheet
• The three-layer sheet
minerals are formed by
placing one silica on the
top and one on the bottom
of either a gibbsite or
brucite sheet.
• The mineral pyrophylite
made of a gibbsite
sandwiched between two
silica sheet.
• The structure of the mineral
muscovite, which is similar to
pyrophyllite except that there
has been isomorphous
substitution of aluminum for
silicon in muscovite (1 in 4).
• The net charge created by this
substitution is balanced by
potassium ions, which serve to
link the three-layer sandwhiches
together.
• The two most common three-layer structure in soil are
montmorillonite and illite type minerals.
• Montmorillonite has a structure similar to pyrophyllite
with the exception that there has been isomorphous
substitution of magnesium for aluminum in the gibbsite
sheet (Mg for Al, 1 in 6).
 Illite (mica-like minerals)
• Si8(Al,Mg, Fe)4~6O20(OH)4·(K,H2O)2. Flaky
shape.
• The basic structure is very similar to the
mica, so it is sometimes referred to as
hydrous mica. Illite is the chief constituent in
many shales.
• Some of the Si4+ in the tetrahedral sheet are
potassium K replaced by the Al3+, and some of the Al3+ in
the octahedral sheet are substituted by the
10 A0 Mg2+ or Fe3+. Those are the origins of charge
deficiencies.
• The charge deficiency is balanced by the
potassium ion between layers. Note that the
potassium atom can exactly fit into the
hexagonal hole in the tetrahedral sheet and
form a strong interlayer bonding.
• The basal spacing is fixed at 10 Å in the
presence of polar liquids (no interlayer
swelling).
Trovey, 1971 ( from • Width: 0.1~ several mm, Thickness: ~ 30 Å
7.5 mm Mitchell, 1993)
(50-500 Ao)
 Montmorillonite
• Si8Al4O20(OH)4·nH2O (Theoretical
unsubstituted). Film-like shape.
• There is extensive isomorphous
substitution for silicon and aluminum
by other cations, which results in
charge deficiencies of clay particles.
• n·H2O and cations exist between unit
layers, and the basal spacing is from
9.6 Å to  (after swelling).
n·H2O+cations
• The interlayer bonding is by van der
Waals forces and by cations which
balance charge deficiencies (weak
bonding).
• There exists interlayer swelling,
which is very important to
engineering practice (expansive clay).
• Width: 1 or 2 mm, Thickness: 10
Å~1/100 width (10-50 Ao).

5 mm (Holtz and Kovacs, 1981)

Figure below gives a summary of the sheet silicate minerals
of importance to the civil engineer
Basic Unit-Summary

Mitchell, 1993
 Synthesis

Mitchell, 1993

Noncrystalline
clay -allophane
 Identification of Clay Minerals
• Scanning electron microscope (SEM), both transmission and
scanning, can be used to identify clay minerals in a soil sample.
• Use of Casagrande’s plasticity chart .

Tanah di Pongkor
LL = 80% sd 111%
PI = 47% sd 76%
 8. Specific Surface (Ss)

Specific surface  surface/ volume

Specific surface  surface/ mass Preferred

Surface related force Surface related forces: van der

Waals forces, capillary forces, etc.
Gravational force
Example:
1  1  1cm cube,   2.65g / cm3
6  1cm2
Ss   2. 3  10 4
 m 2
/g Ss is inversely
1cm  2.65 g / cm
3 3
proportional to
1  1  1mm cube,   2.65g / cm3 the particle size
6  1mm 2
Ss   2. 3  m 2
/g
1mm  2.65 g / cm
3 3
 8. Specific Surface (Ss)
• The relative sizes of four common clay minerals and
their specific surfaces are shown in Figure below.
 8. Specific Surface (Ss)

50-120 m2/g (external surface)

Montmorillonite
700-840 m2/g (including the interlayer surface)

Interlayer surface

Illite
65-100 m2/g

Kaolinite

10-20 m2/g
 9. Interaction between Water and Clay Minerals
• When water is added to clay, the cations and a small
number of anions float around the clay particles.
• This is referred to as a diffuse double layer.
• The cation concentration decreases with the distance
from the surface of the particle.
 9. Interaction between Water and Clay Minerals
• Water molecules are polar.
• Hydrogen atoms are not axisymmetric around an oxygen
atom ; instead they occur at a bonded angle of 105°.
--

+ +

• As a result, a water molecule has a positive charge at one

side and a negative charge at the other side.
• It is known as a dipole.
 9. Interaction between Water and Clay Minerals
• Dipolar water is attracted both by
the negatively charged surface of
the clay particles and by the
cations in double layer.
• A third mechanism by which
water is attracted to clay particles
is hydrogen bonding, where
hydrogen atoms in the water
molecules are shared with the
oxygen atoms on the surface of
the clay.
• All of the water held to clay
particles by force of attraction is
known as double-layer water.
 9. Interaction between Water and Clay Minerals
• The innermost layer of double-
layer water, which is held very
strongly by clay, is known as
adsorbed water.
• Figure beside shows the
adsorbed and double –layer
water for typical
montmorillonite and kaolinite
particles.
• This orientation of water
around the clay particles gives
clay soils their plastic
properties.
9. Interaction between Water and Clay Minerals
• The source of the negative charge at the surface of the
clay crystal results from both isomorphous
substitution and imperfections in the crystal lattice.
• Since the crystal wants to be electrically neutral,
cations in the water may be strongly attracted to the
clay, depending on the amount of negative charge
present.
• Different clays have different charge deficiencies and
have different tendencies to attract the exchangeable
cations.
• One cation can easily be exchanged with one of the
same valence or by two of one-half the valence of the
original cation.
9. Interaction between Water and Clay Minerals
• Montmorillonite has a much greater charge
deficiency and thus a much greater atrraction for
exchangeable cations than kaolinite.
• Calcium and magnesium are the predominant
exchangeable cations in soils, whereas potassium and
sodium are less common.
• Marine clays are predominately sodium and
magnesium.
 10. Modification by Admixtures
• The ease of replacement or exchange of cations depends
on several factors, primarily the valence of the cation.
• For ions of the same valence, the size of the hydrated ion
becomes important; the larger the ion, the greater the
replacement power.
• Potasium (K) is monovalent, fits into the hexagonal
holes in the silica sheet  It will be very strongly held
on the clay surface, and it will have a greater
replacement power than sodium (monovalent).
• The cations can be listed in approximate order of their
replacement ability. In order of increasing replacement
power the ions are
• Li+ < Na+ < H+ < K+ < NH4+ << Mg++ < Ca++ << Al+++
 10. Modification by Admixtures
Improving the engineering properties of a soil by admixtures
is often referred to as soil stabilization.
Soil additives may help to:
 Enhance subgrade or subbase properties in order to reduce
the required overall pavement thickness.
 Improve trafficability on construction sites
 Prepare the ground for shallow foundations
 Stabilize slopes by improving the soil’s shear strength
 Reduce erosion by surface runoff or internal seepage
(piping)
 10. Modification by Admixtures
 Construct embankments
 Form load-bearing columns (in situ)
 Improve the workability of borrow materials
 Reduce traffic-generated dust
 Contain hazardous wastes
 Rehabilitate polluted or mined ground
 10. Modification by Admixtures

The most common artificial additives are:

 Portland cement
 Lime
 Bitumen and tar
 Portland Cement
 Soil with cement admixtures are generally termed
cement-stabilized or cement-treated. Mitchell (1976)
reserves the name soil-cement.
 Gravels, crushed rock, or coarse sands with enough
cement to achieve a stress-strain modulus in the range
of 2000 to 20000 MPa are described as cement-bound
and may serve as subbase or base course materials.
 Engineering Benefits of Cement Stabilization
Major gains in the cement treatment of soils are:
 Increased strength & stiffness
 Better volume stability
 Increased durability

The mixing efficiency Em :

Sf
Em 
SL
Where:
Sf = the strength of the soil mixed in the field
SL = the strength of the soil mixed in the laboratory

 Good construction procedures may result in efficiencies in excess

of 80%.
Typical cement contents in soil stabilization range from 2 to 10%.
 Lime

Lime is used in the form of quicklime, CaO, or hydrated

lime, Ca(OH)2. A third version of lime, CaCO3, is used
for agricultural purposes only.

Ion Ca++; Mg++; Na+; Ka+.

 Soil – Lime (CaO) Reactions
• Short-term reactions include hydration (for quicklime)
and flocculation (ion exchange).
• Longer-term reactions are cementation and carbonation.
• Hydration: This drying action is particularly beneficial in
the treatment of moist clays.
• Flocculation: When lime is mixed with clay, sodium and
other cations (+ ion) adsorbed to the clay mineral
surfaces are exchanged with calcium. Lime causes clay
to coagulate, aggregate, or flocculate. The clay’s
plasticity is reduced, making it more easily workable and
potentially increasing its strength and stiffness.
• Cementation: The clay-lime reaction removes silica
from the clay mineral lattice to form products not
unlike those of cement hydration. Cementation is the
main contributor to the strength of the stabilized soil.
• Carbonation: Reaction of lime with carbon dioxide
(CO2) in the open air or in voids of the ground forms
a relatively weak cementing agent.
 Engineering Benefits of Lime Stabilization
1. Improved workability:
o Workability is improved because flocculation makes
the clay more friable.
o The plasticity decreases, mainly because of an increase
in the plastic limit.
o The LL may increase or decrease, depending on the
type of soil.
o Lime increases the optimum water content for
compaction. The maximum dry density achieved with a
particular compactive effort is reduced. The
compaction curve for lime-treated clay is flatter, which
makes moisture control less critical and reduces the
variability of the density produced.
 Engineering Benefits of Lime Stabilization
o In the first few hours after mixing, lime additives
cause a steady increase in strength, but a slower rate
than cement. The need for compaction immediately
after mixing is less critical for lime than cement.
 Engineering Benefits of Lime Stabilization
2. Increase Strength:
Lime increases the strength of a clayey soil, typically
demonstrated in term of unconfined compressive strength
or CBR test results.
3. Increase Volume Stability:
Improved volume stability means reduce shrinkage and
swell upon drying and wetting, respectively. A typical
result of a shrinkage and swelling test is shown in Fig.
13.7.
4. Increase permeability:
It could mean better drainage and less pore pressure
buildup under load.
 Calcium Chloride
• Calcium Chloride (CaCl2) has been used in highway
construction and maintenance since early 20th century.
• Today, CaCl2 still has a variety of uses, but it is probably
most appreciated as a dust palliative on highly trafficked
unpaved roads, such as haul roads in mining and on
large earth-moving projects.
 Fly Ash
• Fly ash is a solid waste product created by the
combustion of coal.
• Only 15 to 20% of fly ash produced in the USA in 1986
was used constructively, less than half of that was used in
the manufacture of concrete.
• The use of chemicals to stabilize or strengthen soils is possible
because of ion exchange.
• Lime (CaOH) stabilizes a sodium clay soil by replacing the
sodium ions in the clay. The swelling of sodium montmorillonite
clays can be significantly reduced by the addition of lime.
• Figure below shows a sodium montmorillonite and kaolinite
crystal with layers of absorbed water. The montmorillonite will
have much greater activity, higher plasticity, and greater
sewlling, shrinkage, and volume change due to loading.
 11. Case Study
Atterberg and gradation test results in Pongkor are as
follow:

Liquid Limit (LL) = 80 % up to 111%

Plastisity Index (PI) = 47 % up to 76 %
Clay Fraction (passing ♯200) = 24 % up to 28 %
Activity = 2 up to 3,5

Based on above data, soil in Pongkor showed substantial

swelling potential as shown in following Figure and Table.
 Expansive Soil Criteria

1. Seed criterion (1962)

2. William criterion (1958)
3. Raman criterion (1967)
4. Chen criterion (1988)
5. Chen criterion (1965)
6. Snethen criterion (1977)
Examination by 6 Soil Expansive Criteria
1. Seed Criterion (1962)
2. William Criterion (1958)
 3. Raman Criterion (1967)
Expansive soil classication based on plasticity and
shrinkage index
SI
Degree Of
NO PI (%) /shirinking
Expansion
index(%)

1. <12 <15 Low

2. 12-23 15-30 Medium

3. 23-32 30-40 High

4.  >32 >40  Very High

 4. Chen Criterion (1988)
Expansive soil classification based on plasticity
index

NO PI (%) Swelling Potential

1. 0-15 Low

2. 10-35 Medium

3. 20-55 High

4.  35 and above  Very High

 5. Chen Criterion (1965)
Expansive soil classification based on % passing no. 200 sieve,
liquid limit, and standard penetration resistance for Rocky
Mountain soils
Probable
Percentage Liquid Standard
Expansion
Passing Penetration Degree Of
No Limit Resistance
(% Total
No.200 Volume Expansion
(%) (Blows/ft)
Change)

1. >95
 >60 >30 >10
Very High
High
2. 60-95 40-60 20-30 3-10

Medium
3. 30-60 30-40 10-20 1-5


4. <30 <30 <10 <1 Low
 6. Snethen Criterion (1977)
Expansive soil classification based on liquid limit,
plasticity index and in situ suction.

Potential Degree Of
No LL (%) PI (%) µ Net
Swell (%) Expansion

  
1. >60 >60 >4 <1,5 High

2. 50-60 25-35 1,5-4 0,5-1,5 Medium

3. <50 <25 <1,5 <0,5 Low

µ Net = Soil Suction at Natural Moisture Content.

Based on Atterberg limit tests, there were indication that
the Pongkor soil had possibility of high swelling
potential and contained Montmorillonite mineral.
Minerologi X-ray difraction test showed that the
Pongkor soil did not contained Montmorillonite mineral.
Most of mineral was Haloisit mineral, followed by
quarts, mika, & Hematit. Indication that the Pongkor soil
contained Montmorillonite mineral is wrong.
 Thank You

For Your Kind Attention