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COMPACTION AND STRENGTH CHARACTERISTICS OF TERRA-ZYME
STABILIZED RED SOIL
Nandini D N and Vinoda Amate
PG Students
Department of Civil Engineering
Reva Institute of Technology and Management
Bengaluru, India
Abstract From many years, highway engineers are using
additives like Lime, fly ash, wood ash, cement etc to improve soil
properties which can be used as sub-grade and sub-bases. Addition
of these additives increases stability and strength of soil. But now
days the locally available materials are diminishing so that the cost
have increased. Hence in search of alternative way for new
materials and improved techniques which modifies the locally
available materials which includes cost effective Bio-enzyme. In
this context, the present study experimentally investigates the
effect of terra-zyme dosage at different dry densities to study its
effect on compaction and strength characteristics of red soil. It is
found that Terra-zyme treated red soil shows significant increase
in strength and the amount of dosage depends on dry density of
compacted soil and has significant effect on strength of red soil.
Though increase in curing period causes reduction in strength of
terra-zyme treated soil, the strength is found to be significantly
larger than that for untreated red soil, as the dosage increases for
all the three conditions
KeywordsTerra-zyme;compaction;unconfined compressive
strength; dry density;optimum moisture content.
I. INTRODUCTION
Bio-enzyme stabilized soil is used in sub-grade and
sub-bases which provides adequate strength and stability to the
pavement structure from below. In certain situations, locally
available red soil which is predominantly kaolin based may
have poor bearing capacity due to loosely placed fills, high
saturation levels that may occur during rainy condition, etc. In
such cases, highway engineers face a problem to design
pavements as the soil may not have adequate CBR. It may also
lead to poor performance of pavements on the long run, even
though the red soil itself is non-problematic soil. In such
situation, bio-enzyme may prove to be most economical
stabilizer to increase the strength of the sub grade. A wide
variety of bio-enzymes are available in market as a new
chemical soil stabilizer. Bio-enzymes are organic, liquid,
natural, non-toxic, non-flammable non-corrosive and eco
friendly which are obtained from fermentation of organic
matter. These are easy, safe and convenient to handle. Terra-
zyme is one such bio-enzyme which has special formulation to
alter the engineering properties of soil. Soil stabilized with
terra-zyme is used in sub-bases and sub-grade which provides
adequate support to pavement structure.
Addition of bio-enzymes is found to reduce the
thickness of adsorbed water. Soil having clay particles when
mixed with water have positively charged ions around the clay
Page 1 of 3
Dr M T Prathap Kumar
Senior Professor and R&D Coordinator
Department of Civil Engineering
Reva Institute of Technology and Management
Bengaluru India
particles , forming a film of water around the clay particles that
remains adsorbed on the clay surface. This adsorbed layer gives
clay particles their plasticity. In some cases, clay found to swell
and the size of double layer increases, but this can be reduced
by drying. Hence, in order to improve the properties of soil, the
thickness of the double layer has to be reduced permanently.
This can be achieved by cat-ion exchange process. By utilizing
fermentation process, a large quantity of Bio-enzymes can be
produced by specific micro-organisms. These soils stabilizing
enzyme without becoming a part of end product catalyzes the
reaction between clay and organic cat-ion and accelerates the
cat-ionic exchange.
Several studies on the effect of bio-enzyme in
enhancing properties of soil have been presented by many
investigations. A comprehensive study was conducted on soil
stabilized with Terra-zyme to determine its effectiveness on soil
sub grade and sub-bases. And it was found that, within a span of
short period the variation in soil properties were observed where
as in case of cohesive soil the improvements were seen to occur
progressively after some period [1]. A field study on plantation
roads which was having heavy problem during monsoon season
was treated with Terra-zyme and it was observed that road was
in very good condition even though exposed to rainfall. From
the results it was concluded that in case of dry or wet season
road can be converted in to all weather road by soil stabilization
using Terra-zyme [2]. CBR tests on soil treated with Bio-
enzyme and untreated soil samples was conducted for a curing
period of 1,2,3 and 4 weeks and was concluded that, bio-
enzyme stabilization requires some clay content in the
aggregates to create the reaction which strengthen the
materials[3]. Three types if bio-enzymes i.e. Terra-zyme,
Fujibeton and Renolith were used in the construction of rural
roads and it was found that pavement crust thickness can be
reduced by using stabilized soil in sub-grade of pavements
making it economical [4] Black cotton soil with different
dosage of terra-zyme was tested for unconfined compressive
strength test by curing the specimens for a period of 1 and 7
days. From the results, it was concluded that compressive
strength increased up to 200% for stabilized soil and found
higher strength for 7 days curing [5].Several such
studies[6,7,8,9,10] indicated that bio-enzyme is an economical
and cost effective stabilizer for improving soil sub-grade
properties within a short period.
In this context, the present study experimentally
investigates the effect of terra-zyme dosage at different dry
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densities to study its effect on compaction and strength III. METHODOLOGY
characteristics of red soil. Mini compaction test as suggested by Sridharan and Siva
Pullaiah [11] was used to determine the compaction
II. MATERIALS USED
characteristics of red soil used in the present study. Unconfined
A. Red Soil Ued compression test were conducted on soils compacted on dry
side of OMC, at OMC and wet side of OMC and with different
Locally available red soil is used for present investigation. The levels of terrazyme dosage added. The results were compared
soil passing through 4.75 mm sieve was used for studies in with unconfined compressive strength (UCS) obtained for BC
present investigation. The properties of Red soil are show in soil without terrazyme to arrive at conclusions regarding the
following Table1 efficacy of terrazyme dosage on compaction properties and
TABLE I : PROPERTIES OF RED SOIL USED UCS value.
IV RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
Colour Red
A. Effect oe Terrazyme on Compaction Properties
Particle Size
Fig 1 shows compaction curves obtained for the soil without
Distribution 71
Terra-zyme. From this compaction curve OMC obtained was
% of Clay and Silt 29
16.5% with maximum dry density (MDD) 19.4 kN/m3. To
% of Sand and Gravel
determine the effect of Terra-zyme dosage, three points from
Specific Gravity 2.67
compaction curve was selected that gave three different values
Atterbergs Limits of dry density. Thus dry density values corresponding to 95%
Liquid Limit 31.5 MDD obtained with respect to OMC were selected representing
Plastic Limit 11.6 values corresponding to dry side of OMC was 18.3 kN/m3 , at
Plasticity Index 19.9 OMC was 19.4 kN/m3 and wet side of OMC was 18.3 kN/m3.
Mini Compaction Test
Maximum Dry Density 19.4 Compaction characteristics were studied by adding three
(kN/m3) levels of Terra-zyme dosage designated as D, D2 and D3
Optimum Moisture 16.5 corresponding to dry side densities obtained on dry side of
Content (%) OMC, at OMC and wet side of OMC. Fig 2 shows comparative
variation of MDD with Terra-zyme dosage tested under three
B. Terra-zyme Used different conditions of dry density. The trend in results indicates
A commercially available bio-enzyme under the trade name maximum reduction in thickness of adsorbed water layer occurs
Terra-zyme is used for the present study. It is natural, non-toxic; when Terra-zyme is added and soil is compacted using
non-corrosive which is obtained from fermentation of plant properties corresponding to 95% of OMC and properties
based organic matter. It is easy and safe to handle. Three towards dry side of OMC. This is due to smaller amount of
recommended dosage levels by the supplier which are suitable moisture content available when soil properties used are
for most of the soils have been adopted to study the effect of corresponding to dry side of OMC.
dosage levels on the various properties of soil. By considering
200ml for bulk volume 2.0 m3(D1), 2.5 m3(D2) and 3.0 m3(D3)
of soil, Terra-zyme was added for three different cases i.e. dry
side of OMC, at OMC and wet side of OMC obtained from
compaction test. The sample calculation of Terrazyme dosage
D1 corresponding to properties on dry side of OMC is as shown
below:
CASE 1: Dry side of OMC
Bulk density of Red soil= 2.1049 g/cc
Bulk density= Weight/Volume
Therefore, Weight= Bulk density*Volume
For Dosage 1 (D1)
200 ml for 2.0 m3 of soil = 2.1049*2*1000 = 4210 kg of soil Fig 1: Compaction Curve for the red soil without Terrazyme
Therefore, for 1 kg of soil = 0.047 ml of Enzyme

Similarly the quantity of Terrazyme to be added at different

dosage levels was obtained. Table 2 shows the details of Terra-
zyme dosage used in the present study

TABLE II: TERRAZYME DOSAGE USED IN THE STUDY

Particulars TERRAZYME DOSAGE

(in ml for 1kg of Soil)
D1 D2 D3
Dry Side of OMC 0.047 0.0380 0.0316
At OMC 0.0442 0.0354 0.0294 Fig2 Variation of MDD with Terra-Zyme Dosage
Wet Side of OMC 0.0461 0.0368 0.0307

Page 2 of 3
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Fig 5: Variation o f UCS at Different Terra-Zyme Dosage for Soil at Wet Side
B. Effect of Terrazyme on UCS
Remolded specimens were prepared by compacting the
specimens using three levels of Terra-zyme dosages D1, D2 and
D3 and soil was compacted to dry side of OMC, at OMC and
wet side of OMC.
The terrazyme mixed soil was also cured for a period of 7,15
and 30 days. The peak value of stress was obtained from the
stress-strain curves which are designated as Unconfined
Compressive Strength (UCS).Fig 3,4 and 5 shows the variation
of UCS of red soil admixed with different dosage of terrazyme
corresponding to properties on dry side of OMC, at OMC and
wet side of OMC.
It can be seen from these variations, that the strength at 7
days was maximum at all dosage levels and with increase in
curing period UCS decreases. However the UCS at all curing
period tested in the present investigation was found to be greater
than those obtained for soil without Terra-zyme dosage.
Further, the UCS obtained for soil compacted using
properties on at OMC was significantly smaller than those
obtained corresponding to the UCS obtained for soil compacted
using properties obtained on dry side of OMC. It can be noted
that the dosage D0 corresponds to red soil with no terrazyme.
Fig 3 Variation o f UCS at Different Terra-Zyme Dosage for Soil at Dry Side
of OMC
Fig 4 Variation o f UCS at Different Terra-Zyme Dosage for Soil at OMC
Page 3 of 3
Of OMC
V CONCLUSIONS
On the basis of present experimental investigation on
Terra-zyme stabilized Red soil, following conclusions are
drawn
The Terra-zyme dosage has a significant effect on
improving strength of Terra-zyme stabilized soil. The effect
of dosage level mainly depends on the effect of dry density
as well as initial water content.
The studies on compaction characteristics using three levels
of Terra-zyme dosage has indicated the addition of Terra-
zyme dosage improves compaction characteristics in terms
of MDD and OMC, when the calculated dosages are added
on the basis of properties obtained at dry side of OMC.
Increase in UCS and hence the strength of the soil occurs at
all dosage levels of Terra-zyme compared to untreated red
soil.
Maximum increase in strength occurs at 7 days curing
period at all dosage levels of Terra-zyme. However,
marginal reduction in UCS occurs with increase in curing
period.
The strength of Terra-zyme treated red soil at all days of
curing period, viz,7 days, 15 days and 30 days re
significantly larger than those obtained at 0 days curing as
well as untreated red soil.
Significant increase n UCS was observed at all dosage
levels of Terra-zyme as well as at all curing period when
Terra-zyme dosage is added using properties corresponding
to dry side of OMC obtained from compaction test of
untreated red soil.
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