Prof. D. N. Singh

JAYANTHI N V PRATHYUSHA

M.Tech.+Ph. D.
Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Powai, India prathyusha.jayanthi@gmail.com

APPLICATION OF SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS FOR STABILIZINGFINE-GRAINED SOILS AGAINST DESICCATION INDUCED CRACKING

Desiccation cracking is a phenomenon commonly associated with the fine-grained soils, which initiates at their surface and subsequently propagates deeper inside their matrix. Hence, for safe and durable infrastructure development, stabilization of such soils becomes important. However, in the recent times, the impact of conventional stabilizers (viz., cement, chemicals and fibers), on ecosystem is being realized and hence replacing these materials with sustainable materials, which are mostly industrial by-products, is becoming a need of the hour. This philosophy would not only conserve the natural resources but would also result in a ?marriage? between ?two suitable? materials to create a ?synergy? within the ecosystem. With this in view, the ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS), a by-product from the iron and steel plants and the red mud (RM), a by-product from alumina manufacturing units, were considered in this study, for stabilizing the fine-grained soils against desiccation cracking. To achieve this, the parameter ?crack intensity factor?, CIF, which has been employed by earlier researchers to quantify cracking characteristics of the (virgin) fine-grained soils has been employed and correlated with soil specific characteristics. However, it has been realized that determination of CIF is a big challenge, due to various ambiguities and uncertainties associated with its determination, and hence efforts have also been made to develop guidelines to overcome this.