This paper discusses efforts made by past researchers to steady the expansive (problematic) soils using mechanical and chemical techniques - specifically with EPS beads, lime and fly ash. Administering swelling of problematic soils is critical for civil engineers to prevent structural distress. This paper summarizes studies on reduction of swelling potential using EPS, lime and fly ash individually. Chemical stabilization with lime and fly ash are conventional methods for expansive soil stabilization, with known merits and demerits. This paper explores the suitability of different materials under various conditions and stabilization mechanisms, including cation exchange, flocculation, and pozzolanic reactions. The degree of stabilization is influenced by various factors such as the type and amount of additives, soil mineralogy, curing temperature, moisture content during molding, and the presence of nano-silica, organic matter, and sulfates. Additionally, expanded polystyrene (EPS) improves structural integrity by compressing when surrounded clay swells, reducing overall swelling. Thus, EPS addresses limitations of chemicals by mechanical means. Combining EPS, lime and fly ash creates a customized system promoting efficient, long-lasting, cost-effective and eco-friendly soil stabilization. Chemicals address EPS limitations like poor stabilization. This paper benefits civil engineers seeking to control expansive soil swelling and prevent structural distress. It indicates potential of an EPS-lime-fly ash system and concludes by identifying research gaps for further work on such combinatorial stabilizer systems.

Geosynthetic clay liners (GCLs) are mostly used as flow barriers in landfills and waste containments due to their low hydraulic conductivity to prevent the leachate from reaching the environment. The self-healing and swell-shrink properties of soft clays (expansive soils) such as bentonite enable them as promising materials for the GCL core layers. However, it is important to modify their physico-chemical properties in order to overcome the functional limitations of GCL under different hydraulic conditions. In the present study, locally available black cotton soil (BCS) is introduced in the presence of an anionic polymer named carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) as an alternative to bentonite to enhance the hydraulic properties of GCL under different compositions. The modified GCL is prepared by stitching the liner with an optimum percentage of CMC along with various percentages of BCS mixed with bentonite. Hydraulic conductivity tests were performed on the modified GCL using the flexi-wall permeameter. The results suggest that the lowest hydraulic conductivity of 4.58 × 10-10 m/s is obtained when 25% of BCS is blended with bentonite and an optimum 8% CMC and further addition of BCS results in the reduction of the hydraulic conductivity.

Rapid industrialization is leading to the pollution of underground natural soil by alkali concentration which may cause problems for the existing expansive soil in the form of producing expanding lattices. This research investigates the effect of stabilizing alkali-contaminated soil by using fly ash. The influence of alkali concentration (2 N and 4 N) and curing period (up to 28 days) on the unconfined compressive strength (UCS) of fly ash (FA)-treated (10%, 15%, and 20%) alkali-contaminated kaolin and black cotton (BC) soils was investigated. The effect of incorporating different dosages of FA (10%, 15%, and 20%) on the UCSkaolin and UCSBC soils was also studied. Sufficient laboratory test data comprising 384 data points were collected, and multi expression programming (MEP) was used to create tree-based models for yielding simple prediction equations to compute the UCSkaolin and UCSBC soils. The experimental results reflected that alkali contamination resulted in reduced UCS (36% and 46%, respectively) for the kaolin and BC soil, whereas the addition of FA resulted in a linear rise in the UCS. The optimal dosage was found to be 20%, and the increase in UCS may be attributed to the alkali-induced pozzolanic reaction and subsequent gain of the UCS due to the formation of calcium-based hydration compounds (with FA addition). Furthermore, the developed models showed reliable performance in the training and validation stages in terms of regression slopes, R, MAE, RMSE, and RSE indices. Models were also validated using parametric and sensitivity analysis which yielded comparable variation while the contribution of each input was consistent with the available literature.

Although the surface organic modification of smectite has been investigated widely, the swelling behavior of clays has been scarcely studied with consideration of civil engineering applications. In this work a facile strategy of liquid-immersion (dilute H2SO4 aqeuous solution) was proposed, and the 3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APS) was utilized as surface modifier to suppress expansibility of black cotton soil (BCS) which is a type of highly swelling soils in tropical areas. Factors such as the incorporation dosage of APS, surface characters of soil treated by solution of H2SO4 or Na2CO3, and reaction temperatures/time were investigated to get lower swelling ratios. The treatment of BCS by H2SO4 was found more effective in immobilizing APS molecules, and hydronium ions were suppressed after the APS modification. The free swelling index (FSI) of BCS was decreased from 120% to 15% after treatment with H2SO4 and appropriate amount of APS modification. The reaction can be completed within several hours at the room temperature to ~80 °C. The soil samples were characterized by different means including the X-ray diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscope, thermogravimetric analysis and Zeta potential measurements. The APS molecules were found to react with -OH groups of the clay, and the hydrophobic groups provide surface hydrophobicity, which prevents hydration of cations within clay minerals. The APS was indicated to re-constructed lamellar structures of smectites after H2SO4 treatment, which suppressed the intra-crystalline and the subsequent osmotic swelling. This research highlights the liquid immersion and surface modification is applicable in diminishing swelling ratios of highly expansive black cotton soil.

This paper investigates the efficacy of an alternative construction methodology proposed by the authors in the form of a \'C\'-shaped lime stabilized capping. It is used for confining expansive clay subgrade soil under embankments carrying flexible pavement at their top, to enhance their performance. The role of capping in controlling moisture ingress responsible for swelling is assessed by studying vertical displacements and suctions in expansive subgrade soils. The load-displacement behavior and the variations in suctions of expansive subgrade soil are studied by using Mohr-Coulomb material model and Van Genuchten Hydraulic Model respectively in FEM based Software PLAXIS 3D. It is observed from the results that; the swelling displacements are considerably reduced and suctions under embankment toe are observed to increase. It can therefore be concluded that, the lime stabilized capping consisting of horizontal buffer layer and vertical cut-offs is effective in controlling swelling displacements in expansive subgrades.