Improving The Engineering Properties of Expansive Clayey Soils by Adding Fly Ash Based-Geopolymer-A Review

Authors

  • Zahraa Mohammed Abdullah Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, Mustansiriyah University, 10064 Baghdad, Iraq
  • Mohammed Hussein Al-Dahlaki Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, Mustansiriyah University, 10064 Baghdad, Iraq

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.71229/4157ts64

Keywords:

Soil Stabilization, , Geopolymer, , Fly Ash, , Alkali Activator, Expansive Soil

Abstract

Expansive soils are among the most common causes of natural hazards worldwide due to their swell and shrink behaviour with changing of water conditions; the costs associated with their damages sometimes exceed the losses of floods and hurricanes. Therefore, engineers do their best to eliminate soil's risks as much as possible. Treatment methods are divided into mechanical and chemical. The most common method globally is chemical, for many reasons, including the availability of treatments in local markets and the satisfactory results they achieve. One of the most innovative materials widely used in civil engineering recently is geopolymer, which has proven to be very effective in reducing environmental pollution of traditional stabilizers. This research briefly discusses the usage of geopolymer as a stabilizing agent. The focus of this research is on reducing expansion potential using fly ash-based geopolymer. Previous studies have shown that increasing the percentage of fly ash in the geopolymer with any type of alkaline activator leads to a decrease in swelling potentials.

References

"Adli, M. (2024, January). Perspectives of Participation of Migration Processes in the Enterprise Economy. In Conference: 3rd International Conference on Engineering, Natural and Social Sciences: Turkey.‏".

"Yılmaz, M. K. (2014). Improvement of expansive soils by using cement kiln dust (Master's thesis, Middle East Technical University (Turkey)).‏".

‏, "Jefferson, I., & Jones, L. D. (2023). Expansive soils. ICE Manual of Geotechnical Engineering, Second edition: Volume I: Geotechnical engineering principles, problematic soils and site investigation, 447-478.‏".

"Reda, A., Ibrahim, E., & Houssami, L. (2016). A cure for swelling.‏".

Nelson, J., & Miller, D. J. (1997). Expansive soils: problems and practice in foundation and pavement engineering. John Wiley & Sons.‏.

Dasgupta, A. K. (2025). Reinforced Cement Concrete Structures: Practical Design and Standard Details. CRC Press.‏.

"Li, S. L., Qin, S. J., & Po, Z. Z. (1992). Research on the engineering geology of expansive soils in China. Jiangsu Science and Technology Press, Nanjing.‏".

Chen, F. H. (2012). Foundations on expansive soils (Vol. 12). Elsevier.‏.

"Snethen, D. R. (1984, January). Evaluation of expedient methods for identification and classification of potentially expansive soils. In Fifth International Conference on Expansive Soils 1984: Preprints of Papers (pp. 22-26).".

"Sridharan, A. S. U. R. I., Rao, A. S., & Sivapullaiah, P. V. (1986). Swelling pressure of clays. Geotechnical Testing Journal, 9(1), 24-33.‏".

"Fattah, M. Y., Salim, N. M., & Irshayyid, E. J. (2022). Influence of soil suction on swelling pressure of bentonite-sand mixtures. European Journal of Environmental and Civil Engineering, 26(7), 2554-2568.‏".

Nelson, J., & Miller, D. J. (1997). Expansive soils: problems and practice in foundation and pavement engineering. John Wiley & Sons.‏.

Mohammed, M. A. H. (2019). Investigation of Building Damages due to Expansive Soils. Sultan Qaboos University (Oman).‏.

"Rogers, J. D., Olshansky, R., & Rogers, R. B. (1993). Damage to foundations from expansive soils. Claims People, 3(4), 1-4.‏".

"Jian, X., Zha, X., Zhang, H., & Yang, J. (2024). Research on the damaging mechanisms of expansive soil in subgrade. Mechanics of Advanced Materials and Structures, 31(11), 2362-2369.‏".

"Firoozi, A. A., Guney Olgun, C., Firoozi, A. A., & Baghini, M. S. (2017). Fundamentals of soil stabilization. International Journal of Geo-Engineering, 8(1), 26.‏".

"Razvi, S. S., et al. "Study on stabilization of soil using a burnt brick." Int. Res. J. Eng. Technol.(IRJET) 5.5 (2018).‏".

"Al-Gharbawi, A. S., Najemalden, A. M., & Fattah, M. Y. (2022). Expansive soil stabilization with lime, cement, and silica fume. Applied Sciences, 13(1), 436.‏".

"Jouben, Andrew James. A case study of pavement failures in central Texas due to expansive soils. Diss. 2014.‏".

"KAZEMIKHOSROWSHAHI, Samad. Stabilization of Expansive Soil Using Copolymer, Homopolymer Polypropylene, Fly Ash and Lime (Doctoral dissertation, Yüksek lisans tezi). ‏".

"Dafalla, M., Shaker, A., & Al-Shamrani, M. (2022). Sustainable road shoulders and pavement protection for expansive soil zones. Transportation Research Record, 2676(10), 341-350.‏".

"Farid, A., & Hamid, I. A. (2013). Evaluation of treatment methods used for construction on expansive soils in Egypt.‏".

"Zumrawi, M. M., Asim O. Abdelmarouf, and A. E. Gameil. "Damages of buildings on expansive soils: diagnosis and avoidance." International Journal of Multidisciplinary and Scientific Emerging Research 6.2 (2017): 108-116.‏".

"Dafalla, M. A., & Shamrani, M. A. (2011). Road damage due to expansive soils: Survey of the phenomenon and measures for improvement. In Design, Construction, Rehabilitation, and Maintenance of Bridges (pp. 73-80).‏".

"Sapaz, B. (2004). Lateral versus vertical swell pressures in expansive soils (Doctoral dissertation, METU).‏," ‏.

"Li, M., Wei, Y., Liu, Y., & Jin, J. (2021). A framework for interpreting lateral swelling pressure in unsaturated expansive soils. Advances in Civil Engineering, 2021(1), 6626835.".

"Lin, B., & Cerato, A. B. (2013). Hysteretic soil water characteristics and cyclic swell–shrink paths of compacted expansive soils. Bulletin of engineering geology and the environment, 72(1), 61-70.‏".

"Expansive Soils Can Require Foundation Repair," ground works, [Online]. Available: https://www.groundworks.com/solutions/foundation-repair/expansive-soils/.

"Aqeel, A. (2016). Investigation of expansive soils in Obhor Sabkha, Jeddah-Saudi Arabia. Arabian Journal of Geosciences, 9(4), 314.‏".

"Jones, L., Banks, V., & Jefferson, I. (2020). Swelling and shrinking soils.‏".

"Jones, L. D., & Jefferson, I. (2012). Expansive soils. ICE manual of geotechnical engineering. Volume 1, geotechnical engineering principles, problematic soils and site investigation, 413-441.‏".

"Dong, H., Ni, P., Mei, G., Zhao, Y., & Xu, M. (2025). On factors affecting shallow water content of expansive soil slopes. Catena, 249, 108692.‏".

"Zumrawi, M. M., Abdelmarouf, A. O., & Gameil, A. E. (2017). Damages of buildings on expansive soils: diagnosis and avoidance. International Journal of Multidisciplinary and Scientific Emerging Research, 6(2), 108-116.‏".

"Estabragh, A. R., Rafatjo, H., & Javadi, A. A. (2014). Treatment of an expansive soil by mechanical and chemical techniques. Geosynthetics International, 21(3), 233-243.‏".

"Fondjo, A. A., Theron, E., & Ray, R. P. (2021). Stabilization of expansive soils using mechanical and chemical methods: a comprehensive review. Civ Eng Archit, 9(5), 1295-1308.‏".

"Carraro, J. A. H., Dunham-Friel, J., & Smidt, M. (2010). Beneficial use of scrap tire rubber in low-volume road and bridge construction with expansive soils.‏".

"Almajed, A., Dafalla, M., & Shaker, A. A. (2023). The combined effect of calcium chloride and cement on expansive soil materials. Applied Sciences, 13(8), 4811.‏".

"Manzoor, S. O., & Yousuf, A. (2020). Stabilisationof soils with lime: A review. J. Mater. Environ. Sci, 11(10), 1538-1551.‏".

"Moghal, A. A. B., Vydehi, V., Moghal, M. B., Almatrudi, R., AlMajed, A., & Al-Shamrani, M. A. (2020). Effect of calcium-based derivatives on consolidation, strength, and lime-leachability behavior of expansive soil.," Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering, vol. 32, no. 4.

"Padmaraj, D., & Arnepalli, D. N. (2023). Carbonation in lime-stabilized clays: mechanism, effects, and future prospects. Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment, 82(7), 258.‏".

"Driss, A. A. E., Harichane, K., Ghrici, M., & Mohammed, A. S. (2025). Enhancing geotechnical properties of expansive clay with lime and natural pozzolana: experimental and microstructural analysis. Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering, 50(20), 1693".

‏, "Anburuvel, A. (2024). The engineering behind soil stabilization with additives: a state-of-the-art review. Geotechnical and Geological Engineering, 42(1), 1-42.‏".

"Almajed, A., Dafalla, M., & Shaker, A. A. (2023). The combined effect of calcium chloride and cement on expansive soil materials. Applied Sciences, 13(8), 4811.‏".

"Mahedi, M., Cetin, B., & White, D. J. (2020). Cement, lime, and fly ashes in stabilizing expansive soils: Performance evaluation and comparison. Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering, 32(7), 04020177.‏".

"Zhang, Y., Sun, J., Yang, Z., Liu, J., Ma, Z., & Oh, E. (2026). Expansive soil stabilization: multidisciplinary advances in materials, mechanisms, and sustainable strategies. Acta Geotechnica, 21(3), 1685-1711.‏".

"SankaraNarayanan, M., & Rajesh, S. (2024). A state-of-the-art review on sustainable chemical stabilizers for expansive soils. Indian Geotechnical Journal, 54(3), 998-1016.‏".

"Mohammed, A. A., Nahazanan, H., Nasir, N. A. M., Huseien, G. F., & Saad, A. H. (2023). Calcium-based binders in concrete or soil stabilization: Challenges, problems, and calcined clay as partial replacement to produce low-carbon cement. Materials, 16(5),".

"Latifi, N., Horpibulsuk, S., Meehan, C. L., Abd Majid, M. Z., Tahir, M. M., & Mohamad, E. T. (2017). Improvement of problematic soils with biopolymer—an environmentally friendly soil stabilizer. Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering, 29(2), 04016204.‏".

"Murmu, A. L., & Patel, A. (2020). Studies on the properties of fly ash–rice husk ash-based geopolymer for use in black cotton soils. International Journal of Geosynthetics and Ground Engineering, 6(3), 38.‏".

Davidovits, J. (2008). Geopolymer chemistry and applications. Geopolymer Institute.‏.

"Leong, H. Y., Ong, D. E. L., Sanjayan, J. G., & Nazari, A. (2018). Strength development of soil–fly ash geopolymer: Assessment of soil, fly ash, alkali activators, and water. Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering, 30(8), 04018171.‏".

"Ribeiro, R. A. S., Ribeiro, M. G. S., Sankar, K., & Kriven, W. M. (2016). Geopolymer-bamboo composite–A novel sustainable construction material. Construction and Building Materials, 123, 501-507.‏".

"Onyelowe, K. C., Bui Van, D., & Nguyen Van, M. (2021). Swelling potential, shrinkage and durability of cemented and uncemented lateritic soils treated with CWC base geopolymer. International Journal of Geotechnical Engineering, 15(4), 389-404.‏".

"Naghizadeh, A., & Ekolu, S. O. (2017). Pozzolanic materials and waste products for formulation of geopolymer cements in developing countries: a review.‏".

"Hollenbach, M., Tünnemann, J., Struck, M. F., Feisthammel, J., Schlosser, T., Schaumburg, T., ... & Hoffmeister, A. (2019). Endoscopic findings and outcome in caustic ingestion of acidic and alkaline agents in adults: a retrospective analysis. Medicine, 9".

"Matsimbe, J., Dinka, M., Olukanni, D., & Musonda, I. (2022). Geopolymer: A systematic review of methodologies. Materials, 15(19), 6852.‏".

"Kriven, W. M., Leonelli, C., Provis, J. L., Boccaccini, A. R., Attwell, C., Ducman, V. S., ... & Lombardi, J. E. (2024). Why geopolymers and alkali‐activated materials are key components of a sustainable world: A perspective contribution.," American ceramic society, vol. 107, no. 8, pp. 5159-5177, August 2024.

"Duxson, P., Fernández-Jiménez, A., Provis, J. L., Lukey, G. C., Palomo, A., & van Deventer, J. S. (2007). Geopolymer technology: the current state of the art. Journal of materials science, 42(9), 2917-2933.‏".

"Davidovits, J. (1989). Geopolymers and geopolymeric materials. Journal of thermal analysis, 35(2), 429-441.‏".

"Disu, A. A., & Kolay, P. K. (2021). A critical appraisal of soil stabilization using geopolymers: the past, present and future. International Journal of Geosynthetics and Ground Engineering, 7(2), 23.‏".

"Al-Rkaby, A. H., Odeh, N. A., Sabih, A., & Odah, H. (2022). Geotechnical characterization of sustainable geopolymer improved soil. Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Materials, 31(1), 484-491.‏".

"Nanda, R. P., & Priya, N. (2024). Geopolymer as stabilising materials in pavement constructions: A review. Cleaner Waste Systems, 7, 100134.‏".

"Singh, S., Kumar, A., & Sitharam, T. G. (2024). Experimental study on strength, durability, hydraulic and toxicity characteristics of soil treated with mine tailings based geopolymers for sustainable road subgrade application.," Construction and Building Materials, vol. 414, p. 134894, February 2024.

"Kolade, A. S., Ikotun, B. D., & Oyejobi, D. O. (2025). A review of the chemistry, waste utilization, mix design and performance evaluation of geopolymer concrete. Iranian Journal of Science and Technology, Transactions of Civil Engineering, 49(6)," pp. 5421-5454.

"Murmu, A. L., Jain, A., & Patel, A. (2019). Mechanical properties of alkali activated fly ash geopolymer stabilized expansive clay. KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering, 23(9), 3875-3888.‏".

"نور عبد الرحمن عبدالله. (2023). دراسة مختبرية لتصرفاساس مربع فوق تربة انتفاخية مرصوصة محسنة باستخدام الرماد المتطاير كمادة جيوبولمرية (Doctoral dissertation, جامعة ديالى).".

"Wang, H., Liu, T., Yan, C., & Wang, J. (2023). Expansive soil stabilization using alkali-activated fly ash. Processes, 11(5), 1550.‏".

"Salih, S. R., & Shafiqu, Q. S. M. (2024). The effect of adding mixture of gypsum-lime with geopolymer on the properties of swelling soil. Civil and Environmental Engineering, 20(2), 978-992.‏".

"Debanath, O. C., Rahman, M. A., Farook, S. M., & Islam, M. R. (2024). Application of ecofriendly geopolymer binder to enhance the strength and swelling properties of expansive soils. Advances in civil engineering, 2024(1), 9910728.‏".

fig 1

Downloads

Published

2023-10-30

Issue

Section

Review Papers

How to Cite

Improving The Engineering Properties of Expansive Clayey Soils by Adding Fly Ash Based-Geopolymer-A Review. (2023). Al-Noor Journal of Engineering Management and Computer Science, 3(1), 459-471. https://doi.org/10.71229/4157ts64

Most read articles by the same author(s)