Volume-Change Behavior of Lime-Stabilized Expansive Soils after Experiencing Different Loading Conditions

The compressibility characteristics of soils are of great importance in geotechnical engineering, as they play a vital role in determining the magnitude of deformation that the soil will impose on superstructures. This matter becomes more important in expansive soils due to their unusual volume-change behavior. Many studies have explored the role of different stabilizers on the compressibility of expansive soils in addition to their swelling potential. However, the effect of loading history of the soil has been neglected in their measurements. This study assessed the role of loading history on compressibility characteristics of lime-stabilized expansive soils. A series of one-dimensional swelling-consolidation tests were conducted on samples containing different lime percentages (3%, 6%, and 12% of dry soil weight). In order to observe the effect of loading history, different overconsolidation ratios (OCR) were induced in the stabilized specimens. The rebound and compression indices of samples with different OCRs and lime contents were measured and compared to each other. Results of this study show that increasing the OCR value lowers the effectiveness of lime in reducing the rebound index, while it improves the reduction of the compression index.