Soil Stabilization by Electrokinetic Method

The application of chemical ground improvement using the electro kinetic stabilization (EKS) method has the potential to overcome problems in soft soil. The principles of EK treatment method involves applying a direct current or a potential gradient to electrodes inserted in the low permeable soils. The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of EKS as an effective method to stabilize soft clayey soil. The investigations were carried out in the laboratory using soil sample from locally collected clay soil. The cationic fluid used in EKS is calcium chloride (CaCl2) and the electrodes used in this process are graphite and zinc. EKS of soft soil was done by using graphite electrodes as anode and cathode in first method and similarly combination of graphite and zinc electrodes as anode and cathode in second method. In above two methods of EKS the concentration of cationic fluid for each test run is 10, 15 and 20g/l of calcium chloride and the voltage maintained for each test run is 40, 50 and 60 volt for 3 hours. Electro kinetically stabilized soil was tested for liquid limit test, plastic limit test and swell index test. The results shows that the Liquid Limit was reduced up to 37.27 % from 67.45 %, Plastic Limit increased from 36.11 % to 37.4 %, Plasticity Index decreased from 31.34 % to 13.73 % and Free Swelling Index was decreased to 2.9 % from 26 %. The results showed that the Graphite Graphite electrode combination was efficient when compared to Graphite Zinc electrode combination.