Stabilization of blast furnace slag and fly ash using lime and RBI grade 81

Abstract

The objective of the project is to use industrial wastes in place of natural soil in the construction of road and highway after increasing its strength, stability and durability by the method of stabilization using lime and RBI grade 81.Traditionally soil, stone aggregates, sand, bitumen, cement etc. are used for road construction. Natural materials being exhaustible in nature, its quantity is declining gradually. Huge amount of soil is used in the construction of road and highway but sufficient amount of soil of required quality is not available easily. For that reason large amount of trees are being cut which cause deforestation, soil erosion and loss of fertile soil which hampers in the agricultural productivity. Also, cost of extracting good quality of natural material is increasing. Concerned about this, the scientists are looking for alternative materials for highway construction, and industrial waste product is one such category. If these materials can be suitably utilized in highway construction, the pollution and disposal problems may be partly reduced. Stabilization is the method used in this project to increase the inherent strength of wastes like fly ash and blast furnace slag (BFS) using lime and RBI grade 81. The present project work aims at evaluating the effectiveness of lime and RBI Grade 81 in stabilizing the waste products like fly ash and BFS mixes and its suitability in road construction. This will save the natural soil in addition to addressing the disposal problems of industrial solid wastes in a great way. Fly ash was collected from the captive power plant (CPP-II) and BFS from the dump pad of Rourkela steel plant (RSP). The collected samples were oven dried and mixed thoroughly to get homogeneity in the Geotechnical Engineering laboratory. The samples were then kept in different air tight container for the project work. Samples were then prepared mixing fly ash and BFS with different percentage at an interval of 10% and standard proctor test was carried out to get optimum moisture content (OMC) and maximum dry density (MDD). Stabilized samples were prepared mixing fly ash and BFS with different percentage at an interval of 10% and with stabilizing agent lime and RBI grade 81 with increasing percentage as 0%, 2%, 4%, 6%, and 8%. The samples were then subjected to unconfined compressive test after 7, 14, 28 and 60 days of curing. The above samples were prepared using constant volume mould by static compression method.