Journal of Positive School Psychology http://journalppw.

com
2022, Vol. 6, No. 3, 3739 –3748

Study On Soil And Stabilisation Using E-Waste

Dr.K.Prabin, Anil kumar
Professor , UG student
Department of civil Engineering,Saveetha School of Engineering , Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical
sciences, Chennai, India

ABSTRACT
Soil Stabilization is the phenomenon which deals with modifying the properties of soil (Index &
Engineering) to improve its performance. Stabilization is being used for a variety of engineering
works either in its natural form or in a processed form. Eventually all structures rest on soil
foundation where the main objective is to increase the strength or stability of soil and to reduce
the construction cost. Now a day the utilization of waste products with soil has gained attention
due to the increasing problems of waste management. This paper presents the results of an
experimental program undertaken to investigate the effect of E-waste at different dosages on
black cotton soil. Different dosages of E-waste i.e. 2%, 5% and 8% were added in the soil. The
performance of E-waste stabilized soil was evaluated using physical and strength performance
tests namely; Atterberg’s limit, specific gravity, compaction test, unconfined compressive test,
California bearing ratio (CBR) and direct shear test
Theses test were conducted in order to evaluate the improvement in the strength characteristics
of the soil. From the results, unconfined compressive strength of specimen increased with an
average of 2.41 kN/m2 for fixed dosage of E- waste. After performing direct shear test, there
was an improvement in angle of friction (Ф). As the percentage of E-waste increased, Ф increased.
As bearing capacity is dependent on C and Ф, it was also observed that there is an increase in
bearing capacity of the soil.

INTRODUCTION technique, soilstabilization lost favor. In recent times,

For any land-based structure, the foundation is very with the increase in the demand for infrastructure,
important and has to be strong to support the entire raw materials and fuel, soil stabilization has started to
structure. In order for the foundation to be strong, the take a new shape. With the availability of better
soil around it plays a very critical role. So, to work research, materials and equipment, it is emerging as
with soils, we need to have proper knowledge about a popular and cost-effective method for soil
their properties and factors which affect their improvement.
behavior. The process of soil stabilization helps to Here, in this project, soil stabilization has been done
achieve the required properties in a soil needed for with the help of randomly distributed polypropylene
the construction work. fibers obtained from waste materials. The
From the beginning of construction work, the improvement in the shear strength parameters has
necessity of enhancing soil properties has come to the been stressed upon and comparative studies have
light. Ancient civilizations of the Chinese, Romans been carried out using different methods of shear
and Incas utilized various methods to improve soil resistance measurement
strength etc., some of these methods were so effective Principles of Soil Stabilization:
that theirbuildings and roads still exist. Evaluating the soil properties of the area under
In India, the modern era of soil stabilization began consideration.
in early 1970‘s, with a general shortage of
petroleum and aggregates, it became necessary for Deciding the property of soil which needs to be
the engineers to look at means to improve soil other altered to get the design value and choose the
than replacing the poor soil at the building site. Soil effective and economical method for stabilization.
stabilization was used butdue to the use of obsolete Designing the Stabilized soil mix sample and testing
methods and also due to the absence of proper it in the lab for intended stability and durability

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 3740 Journal of Positive School Psychology

values soil erosion or formation of dust, which is very useful

especially in dry and arid weather.
1.1.1 Needs & Advantages 5. Stabilization is also done for soil water-proofing; this
prevents water from entering into the soil and hence
Soil properties vary a great deal and construction of
helps the soil from losing its strength.
structures depends a lot on the bearing capacity of
the soil, hence, we need to stabilize the soil which
6. It helps in reducing the soil volume change due to
change in temperature or moisture.
makes it easier to predict the load bearing capacity
of the soil and even improve the load bearing RESULT
capacity. The gradationof the soil is also a very AND DISCUSSION
important property to keep in mind while working 4.1 Soil Sample Collection
with soils. The soils may be well- graded which is
Natural soil samples were collected within a
desirable as it has less number of voids or uniformly depth of 20cm from the surface. The surface of
graded which though sounds stable but has more
sampling site is cleaned to ensure that the samples are
voids. Thus, it is better to mix different types of
free from roots of plants and grasses. Once the
soils togetherto improve the soil strength properties.
surface is cleaned, a small pit of size 300mm X
It is very expensive to replace the inferior soil
300mm is made to a depth of 150mm. The following
entirely soil and hence, soil stabilization is the thing tools and materials are used to dig the pit and
to look for in these cases.
preserve the sample. (i) showel (ii) mobile (GPS) (iii)
1. It improves the strength of the soil, thus, increasing containers (iv) sample cover, and (v) field book.
the soil bearing capacity. About 1 kg of soil were collected for laboratory tests.
2. It is more economical both in terms of cost and Each sample was labeled and it was noted in the field
energy to increase the bearing capacity of the soil book after visual identification. The nature and
rather than going for deep foundation or raft colour of the samples was also noted in the field
foundation. book. The geographical co-ordinates of each sample
were noted using a mobile (instead of handheld GPS)
3. It is also used to provide more stability to the soil in and it was recorded in the field book. The positional
slopes or other such places. accuracy of the GPS used is 7m.
4. Sometimes soil stabilization is also used to prevent

Fig.5 Pitting for sample collection

After collection of the samples from the sites they then prepared depending upon the soil test to be
were transported to the laboratory. The samples were performed. Apart from giving an outline of the

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 Dr.K.Prabin, Anil kumar, et. al. 3741

characteristics of the given soil, it would be relevant determining the index properties of soil. In this study,
if a brief description of the properties were determined by the laboratory
mineral particles. The composition of sand is highly methods which are described below.
variable, depending on the local rock
4.3.1 Sieve Analysis – for Texture
Sources and conditions, but the most common
The texture of the soil refers to the grain size of the
constituent of sand in inland continental settings and
soil. Based on the grain size, the soil is classified as
nontropical coastal settings is silica (silicon dioxide,
sand (coarse & fine), silt and clay. Sieve analysis is
or SiO2), usually in the form of quartz.
the test which is used to classify the soil based on
4.2 Clay grain size. Sieve sets are available with different sizes
of mesh in this test. And the sets are fixed with
Clays are distinguished from other fine-grained mechanical sieve shaker. The soil was dried and
(0.02mm in diameter) soils by differences in size and weighed after drying. The dried soil passes through
mineralogy. The particles are extremely closely the sieve sets after the instrument is switched on.
packed. As the particles are very small the clay has a After ten minutes of shaking, we obtain the soil
high surface area and can retain a lot of water when classification based on the texture. Further details of
wet. Clay minerals are typically formed over long laboratory method of textural classification are
periods of time by the gradual chemical weathering available in Reddy & Sastri (2002).
of rocks, usually silicate- bearing, by low
concentrations of carbonic acid and other diluted 4.4 E-waste
solvents.
Electronic waste may be described as the
4.3 Determination of Index Properties of Collected discarded electronic equipments such as mobile
Samples phones, computers, household appliances which fail
or are no more fit for its originally intended use.
`Index properties of soils are used to classify the type Everyday advancements in technology have resulted
of soil and it provides the structural properties of in fast growing surplus of electronic
soils. Laboratory and field tests are available for
waste around the globe. Around 50 million tons of E- Developing countries like India are being used to
waste is generated annually around the globe. dump large masses of E-waste without its sorting or
dismantling
.

Fig.6 E-waste before grinding Fig.7 E-waste after grinding

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 3742 Journal of Positive School Psychology

strength performance tests namely; Atterberg‟s

Laboratory tests were conducted on collected
Limit, Specific Gravity, Compaction Test,
soil with and without E-waste. In order to evaluate
Unconfined Compressive Test, California Bearing
the improvement in strength properties, physical and
Ratio (CBR) and Direct Shear Test were performed.

4.5 Properties of Soil

Table.7 Properties of Soil sample collected

S.No Property Value

1. Dry Density ( Ɣd) 13.5 kN/m3
2. Grain Size Distribution (IS 2720: Part 4)

a) Gravel 0.56%
b) Sand 13.44%
c) Clay 86%
3. Liquid limit 80.3%
4. Plastic limit 61.5%
5. Plasticity index 18.8%
6. Specific gravity 2.38
7. Compaction (IS 2720: Part 8)
a) Maximum Dry Density 15kNm3

b) Optimum Water Content 25%

8. Direct Shear Test
a) Cohesion (C) 47 kNm3
b) Angle of Friction ( ) 9.090
9. Unconfined compressive strength 12.03 kNm2
10 California Bearing Ratio CBR 19.65%
11. Free Swell Index 72%

After the determination of basic properties of analysis test have been performed. The coefficient of
soil, soil stabilized with E-waste and the strength uniformity and curvature are determined from figure
parameters like C & Ф, MDD and OMC, CBR and a. The determined value for Coefficient of Uniformity
UCS were determined by conducting direct shear, (Cu) = 4
compaction, CBR (California bearing ratio) and UCS b. Coefficient of Curvature (Cc) = 2.1 As per IS 2720:
(unconfined compressive stress) tests. Following are Part 4, as the values of Cu and Cc are 4 and 2.1
the results obtained after performing tests. respectively the E-waste is well-graded
Sieve Analysis of E-waste
For grain size distribution of E-waste, sieve

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 Dr.K.Prabin, Anil kumar, et. al. 3743

Fig.8 Sieve analysis of E-waste

4.6 Atterberg’s Limit

waste; soil undergoes distinct changes in behavior
These are the basic measure of the critical
and consistency. Following are the results tabulated
water contents of soil i.e. its liquid limit, plastic limit
for liquid limit, plastic limit and plasticity
and shrinkage limit. After performing tests for liquid
index.Table.8 Atterberg‟s Limit
and plastic limit with and without addition of E-

S.No Sample WL (%) WP (%) IP (%)

1. Soil 80.30 61.50 18.80
2. Soil + 2% E-Waste 83.30 60.00 23.30
3. Soil + 5% E-Waste 85 82 2.37
4. Soil + 8% E-Waste 82.60 74.40 8.20

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 3744 Journal of Positive School Psychology

Fig.9 Variation in LL, PL and PI with increase in E-waste

4.7 Standard Proctor Test

Compaction test were performed for all the specimens i.e. with and without E-waste. Following are the
results tabulated in Table.9 which shows OMC and MDD for respective specimens.
Table.9 MDD and OMC

S.No Sample OMC (%) MDD (kg/m3)

1. Soil 25 1.5
2. Soil + 2% E-Waste 22.5 1.56
3. Soil + 5% E-Waste 13.5 1.57
4. Soil + 8% E-Waste 30.6 1.46

The variation in OMC and MDD can be figured out from the figure 6. OMC and MDD curves are plotted for each

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 Dr.K.Prabin, Anil kumar, et. al. 3745

specimen.
Fig.10 Variation in compaction curves with addition of E-waste

As the addition of E-waste increases, MDD increases and OMC decreases. For 8% dosage of E- waste MDD
decreased and OMC increased. Following figure 7 shows the direct relationship between MDD and E-waste

Fig.11 Variation in compaction curves with E-waste

4.8 Unconfined Compression Test place. The value of UCS increases with addition of
E-waste. Fig 8 shows direct relation between UCS
In this test, the cylindrical specimen is loaded and E-
axially by a compressive force until the failure takes

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 3746 Journal of Positive School Psychology

waste.

Fig.12 Variation of unconfined compressive strength with addition of E-waste

4.9 Direct Shear Test

Direct shear test was performed for various samples of soil to determine the cohesion (C) and angle of
internal friction (Ф).Variation in shear strength parameters can be observed in figure 9 with the addition of E-waste.
Fig.13 Variation in cohesion(C) and angle of internal friction (Ф) with addition of E-wast

From the figure.14, it can be seen that the angle of internal friction (Ф) is directly proportional to percentage addition
of E-waste.

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 Dr.K.Prabin, Anil kumar, et. al. 3747

Fig 14: Variation of angle of friction with addition of E-waste

increase of CBR value is satisfied. Following figure
4.10 California Bearing Ratio (CBR) shows the improvement of CBR value with respect to
CBR value of the black cotton soil improves addition of E-waste. The variation in CBR value with
as the E-waste is added. Thus, objective regarding addition of E-waste can be observed from figure 15.

Fig.15 Variation in CBR value with addition of E-waste

have decreased with increase in E- waste
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 3748 Journal of Positive School Psychology

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