Eur. Phys. J. Plus (2018) 133: 205
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/i2018-12016-0

Regular Article

Physical and mechanical properties of sand stabilized by cement and natural zeolite

¹ Department of Civil Engineering, Najafabad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Najafabad, Iran
² Geotechnical Engineering Research Center, International Institute of Earthquake Engineering and Seismology, P.O. Box 19395-3913, Tehran, Iran

^* e-mail: yjafarianm@iiees.ac.ir

Received: 21 January 2018
Accepted: 17 April 2018
Published online: 31 May 2018

Abstract

Loose sands are prone to lose their shear strength when being subjected to static or cyclic loads. To this end, there exist several methods to improve the mechanical properties of sands, but the most crucial and viable approach is the one with the lowest harmful environmental impact both in production and recycling processes. In this regard, zeolite as a natural pozzolanic additive offers an eco-friendly improvement in strength parameters of cemented sandy soils. Thereby, in this study, a series of unconfined compressive strength (UCS) tests are conducted to evaluate the mechanical parameters of the zeolite-cemented sand. The results demonstrate a meaningful increase in the UCS of the treated sand samples for replacement of cement by zeolite at an optimum proportion of 40% in specimens with 14 and 28 days curing time. The effectiveness of the improvement process is demonstrated by the strength improvement ratio which was up to be 128% to 209% for the samples with 14 and 28 days curing time, respectively. With regard to the above results, zeolite can be introduced as a promising cement substitute in stabilization of sandy ground including backfills, roadbed, embankments, and other structural filling systems.