Strength behaviour of red earth and mine tailings mixtures treated with lime in presence of sodium chloride

This paper presents the role of moulding water content from the dry of optimum to wet of optimum condition on the strength behaviour of Red earth (RE) and mine tailings(MT) mixture treated with lime in presence of sodium chloride have been studied. From dry of optimum to wet of optimum condition the structure of clay particles can change from flocculated to dispersed states during compaction when water content increased. Water content plays a major role in soil-mine tailings-lime mixtures and it increases from dry of optimum to wet of optimum conditions due to development of pozzolanic compounds. In the present investigation an attempt has been made to enhance the strength of red earth treated with mine tailings and lime in presence of sodium chloride at different moulding water content for various curing periods. Unconfined compressive strength tests were conducted and evaluated the strength behaviour of red earth and mine tailings mixture treated with lime in presence of sodium chloride. The test results clearly indicate that the strength ratio is higher on wet of optimum condition than optimum and dry of optimum conditions for various curing periods. The strength ratio increased by 5, 8 and 11 folds respectively for dry of optimum, optimum and wet of optimum conditions respectively for red earth and mine tailings mixture treated with lime in presence of sodium chloride. However, the strength ratio is increased by 11 folds for wet of optimum condition is advantages for civil engineering applications like embankment construction. © 2013 CAFET-INNOVA TECHNICAL SOCIETY