International Research Journal of Applied and Basic Sciences. Vol.

, 3 (4), 796-800, 2012

Available online at http://www. irjabs.com
ISSN 2251-838X 2012

Experimental Investigation of Impact of Adding Lime on Atterberg Limits in

Golestan Province Soils
Mehdi Gharib1, Hamidreza Saba2, Arash Barazesh1
1

Department of civil Engineer, Arak Branch, Islamic Azad University, Arak, Iran
2
Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran
Corresponding Author: Mehdi Gharib, Email: iran8878@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT: Swelling soils account for large volume of the ground. These soils are
swelled due to moisture changes in different seasons of the year which leads to damage and
crack to structures built on these soils and considerable financial loss would be incurred.
Thus this phenomenon may be described as dangerous like other natural disasters. Soil
stabilization is a good technique for reducing such loss. Mechanical techniques such as
concentration lead to improved soil characteristics. However, authors have concluded that
chemical stabilization of the soil is more effective. In this paper, lime is used as a
stabilizing chemical for swelling soils of Golestan province. Four soil samples with
plasticity index 20, 30, 35, and 40 were used in experiment. Plasticity characteristics
(including limits of smoothness, plasticity, contraction and plasticity index) of clay soils in
the region regarding mentioned samples are studied and compared using combination of
various percentages of lime.
Keywords: Lime, Atterberg Limits, Soil
Introduction
Clay soils typically have low resistance and bearing capacity and inflationary problems. One way for
confronting such problems in these soils is clay soil stabilization. Soil stabilization includes activities
resulting in improved soil engineering characteristics and approaching desired features. These actions
cause increased resistance, decreased inflation, reduced permeability, increased efficiency and other many
beneficial effects .
Using lime and concrete in stabilizing by chemicals is common. Lime is widely used due to wide range
for various soil types, low cost, availability and permanent effects (Feng, 2002).
Change in clay soil moisture is often accompanied by volume change. Swelling is usually observed in
unsaturated clays with specific mineralogy. These soils have high water absorption capacity so they
absorb the water and their volume increases (Michalowski, 2003).
Soil contraction and swelling depends on various factors including:
- The type and amount of clay minerals in soil constituents
- Soil moisture
- Soil dry density
Application of reinforcement elements for increasing stability and resistance of the soil has been used for
thousands of years. For example, straw can be used as reinforcement element in clay mortar.
Performance of reinforcement elements with soil cause increased ductility, bearing capacity and
resistance ( Maher, 1990). Lime is widely used due to wide range for various soil types, low cost,
availability and permanent effects and lime-based stabilization technique is regarded as an old and
common technique for stabilization and improvement of Fine-grained soil strength parameters. Extensive
research on soil stabilization with lime has been done by various researchers. Important impact of lime on
soil is increased workability, decreased swelling and soil contraction as well as increased soil resistance
including compressive and tensile strengths. Ion exchange reactions between clay and lime particles

Intl. Res. J. Appl. Basic. Sci. Vol., 3 (4), 796-800, 2012

results in reduced deformation characteristics of soil and cementation carbonation reactions and its
resistance can be increased.
Overall adding lime to the soil leads to developing interactions in the soil which practically causes
improved soil quality and characteristics in terms of geotechnical engineering aspects. Following are
Muntohar, 2000):
some improvements
decreased limits of smoothness
increased plasticity limit
reduced plasticity index
increased contraction limit
increased efficiency
improved strength properties of soil
decreased swelling
One of the effects of lime on clay is changing Atterberg limits so that adding lime causes increased
plasticity limit of the soil, but limit of soil smoothness may increase or decrease. Cationic influence from
the lime on the clay soil leads to neutralizing the negative charge and changing the soil structure from
integrated to parallel form and limit of smoothness increases. However, increased cationic concentration
increases distance between clay particles and limit of smoothness reduces. In addition, smoothness
reduction severity increases by increased time and soil moisture. Contraction limit also increases by lime
addition (Consoli, 2005).
Reactions in soil due to lime presence are classified as follows (Eads, 1963).
1. ion exchange reaction
2. lime carbonation reactions
3. Pozzolanic reactions
4. lime impact on improved soil quality
1. Ion Exchange Reaction
Calcium ions Ca++ in lime do ion exchange with soil cations and low-capacity ions are replaced by
calcium ions in soil. It causes concentration of calcium ions around clay particles thus electronic density
changes around clay particles and soil plasticity decreases and soil operation in various projects of
foundation, infrastructure and road construction is improved (Al-Rawas, 2002).
2. Lime Carbonation Reactions
Formation of CaCo3 and MgCo3 is result of reaction between lime and carbon dioxide in air. Calcium
carbonate and magnesium materials are poorly adherent thus it necessary to prevent from excessive
progress of this interaction (Abdullah, 1999).
3. Pozzolanic Reactions
The reaction between water and soil with lime and silica and alumina materials of the soil leads to
development of cementing material in the soul which and it is done increases soil resistance and stability.
This reaction is a function of time, and it is done slowly and over several years such as cement hydration.
In other words, first calcium hydrate is dissolved and then resulting OH are combined with Si and Al in
clay soil and Hydroxides with Ca ++, silicate and aluminate are produced (Bell, 1996).
4. Lime Impact on Improved Soil Quality
Lime shows good performance for stabilization of plastic clays and reacts quicker with clays containing
Mont Morillonite minerals compared to clays containing Kaolinite.
Lime often shows a good response with clay soils with PI between 10 and 50. In souls with PI lower than
10 using special pozzolan such as coal ash, blast furnace slag, and clay stone seems necessary (Terzaghi,
1996).
In this Study, lime is used as an alternative for stabilizing swelling properties of swollen soil sample of
Golestan province. To this end, lime stabilizing effect was studied by various experiments on samples
prepared from soil combination (soil samples with plasticity index 20, 30, 35, and 40) and various
percentage of lime (weight percent 1, 3, 5, 9, and 13).

Intl. Res. J. Appl. Basic. Sci. Vol., 3 (4), 796-800, 2012

Experimental Method
The aim of this study is to investigate lime stabilizing effect on swelling properties of swollen soil. first,
in order to investigate lime impact of soil plastic characteristics, experiments were performed for
determining limits of smoothness and plasticity and contraction on soil combinations using soil samples
with plasticity indices 20, 30, 35 and 40 and adding various percentage of lime (1, 3, 5, 9, and 13 weight
percentage) and then they were compared.
Results
Following figures should results of experiments for limits of smoothness, plasticity and contraction on
soil samples with different plasticity indices stabilized with various percentages of lime. These
percentages include 1, 3, 5, 9, and 13 weight percent of lime added to soils with plasticity indices of 20,
30, 35, and 40.

Figure 1. Impact of adding lime with different percentages on soil plastic and contraction characteristics
with PI=20

Figure 2. Impact of adding lime with different percentages on soil plastic and contraction characteristics
with PI=30

Intl. Res. J. Appl. Basic. Sci. Vol., 3 (4), 796-800, 2012

Figure 3. Impact of adding lime with different percentages on soil plastic and contraction characteristics
with PI=35

Figure 4. Impact of adding lime with different percentages on soil plastic and contraction characteristics
with PI=40
Discussion and Conclusion
In various experiments, swollen soils were stabilized with different plasticity indices using additive lime
in various percentages, and following were concluded:
a. Adding lime to swollen soil samples leads to increasing plasticity limits and optimal moisture
percentage
b. Adding lime to swollen soil samples leads to decreased limits of smoothness which is
accompanied by increase in soils with plasticity index 20, and reduction on soils with plasticity
index 40 is more prominent than other samples.
c. Adding lime to swollen soil samples leads to contraction limit increase.
d. Adding lime to swollen soil samples leads to reduced plasticity index in clay soils of the region.
This reduction in soils with plasticity index 20 is with milder slope compared to other soil
samples.
e. The conclusion is that the best and most optimal amount of lime addition in the soils with
plasticity index 20 and 30 is13 percentage of lime addition weight. It is 9 percentage n soils with
plasticity index 35 and it is 5 percentages in soils with plasticity index 40.

Intl. Res. J. Appl. Basic. Sci. Vol., 3 (4), 796-800, 2012

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