Author(s) :

Khalid Idris Muhammad, Murtala Umar.

Volume/Issue :

Abstract :

In the tropics, laterite soil is one of the most common material used in the construction of civil infrastructures. However, it sometimes contain substantial amount of fine particles that weaken its strength properties; thus, leading to the need for improvement in order to serve the intended engineering purpose. As such, this study is an effort to check the suitability of using ceramic tile waste powder for soil improvement and determine the optimum dosage that could be use to obtain the required performance of such soil. The ceramic tile waste which is usually produced during transportation and placement process was obtained from a local supplier and was further broken into powder by hand ramming. The ceramic tile waste powder was mixed with the soil at a proportion of 4, 8, 12, 16 and 20% by dry weight of the soil. Compaction was achieved using British Standard Light (BSL) and British Standard Heavy (BSH) energies. The index and engineering properties of the soil before and after the addition of ceramic tile waste powder were determined in accordance with the British standards. The soil sample is classified as Silty sand (SM) based on the Unified Soil Classification System (USCS). Result of the X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) analysis shows Silicon oxides as the predominant minerals present in the ceramic tile waste powder making it a strong pozzolanic material. The maximum dry density increases while the optimum moisture content decreases as the content of the ceramic tile waste increases up to 12%. The UCS results for both BSL and BSH energies also increases with increase in ceramic tile waste powder up to 12%. Hence an optimum strength of 855 and 1225KN/m2 were obtained at 12% ceramic tile powder after 28 days of curing for BSL and BSH respectively. The CBR also shows an increase from the natural soil values of 32 and 42% to 61 and 71% at 12% ceramic tile content for both BSL and BSH compactive energy levels.

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