Compressibility behaviour of Batu Pahat Soft Clay Treated by combination between Tx-85 with Sh-85 probase stabilizer

Abstract

Construction on the soft ground area is a great challenge in the field of geotechnical engineering. It gives instability and settlement problems when construction takes place. The characteristics of soft soil are high compressibility, high settlement, low shear strength, and low permeability. This problem can be solved using a stabilisation method of Batu Pahat Soft Clay (BPSC) studied. The research of stabilisation focuses on improving the compressibility of BPSC by combining TX-85 with SH-85 probase stabiliser. This research aims to determine the physical properties and the compressibility behaviour of BPSC when added with different percentage of stabiliser and curing time. The percentage of stabiliser used in this research is 3L+6P, 3L+9P, 3L+12P, and one untreated sample as constant. Then, the sample was cured for 7 and 14 days before going through testing. Two types of tests have been done for this research to get the physical properties: Atterberg limit (plastic limit & liquid limit) and standard proctor test. After that, the consolidation test was performed to investigate the compressibility behaviour of the combination between TX-85 with SH-85 treated BPSC. As a result, the physical properties of BPSC were categorised as highly plastic clay. Meanwhile, the optimum moisture content (OMC) was 23% and the maximum dry density (MDD) was 1520 kg/m3. The compression index and swelling index value of BPSC decreased as combination between TX-85 with SH-85 content increased. Additionally, the preconsolidation pressure increase as the compression index decrease. Thus, this research can improve soil compressibility to support load and decrease the settlement problem that occurs on construction over soft soil.