Enhancement of Strength and Compressibility of Black Cotton Soil Using Ground Granulated Blast-Furnace Slag (GGBS)–Cement Kiln Dust Columns

In order to avoid cracks and settlements, this research attempts to reduce swell/shrink behavior in expansive soil. The research indicated that combining GGBS‐CKD and BC soil increases the strength of expansive soil and decreases swell pressure and potential by using industry wastes as a stabilizer and boosting soil strength. For this, the column method is adopted by performing laboratory unconfined compressive strength tests and one-dimensional consolidation tests with an optimum GGBS‐CKD combination. Firstly, the optimum combination of GGBS‐CKD is studied at 7 days of curing period; from this, it was found to be 85:15. Furthermore, the curing period and the role of molding water content are studied, and the effect of spacing and curing period is studied for one-dimensional consolidation tests. From the results, it was found that the use of GGBS‐CKD along with BC soil improves the strength of expansive soil and reduces the swell pressure and swell potential compared to using BC soil alone. Further microstructural analyses were studied with the same samples.