Reduction of swell pressure of expansive soils using some polymeric additives

The main objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of three polymeric additives on swelling properties of expansive soils. Three clayey soil samples were used in this study. One of them are of moderate and two of them are of high plasticity index. Furan, Methyl Metha Acrylate (MMA) and Vinyl Acetate (VA) have been used as three polymeric additives in this study. In order to evaluate the effect of these polymers on swelling pressure of afore mentioned soil samples firstly a series of swell pressure tests (using ASTM-D4546) were applied on untreated soil samples at optimum water content. Then each untreated soil sample was mixed with each of the polymers at three different dosage and swell pressure tests were applied at optimum water content. The results showed significant reduction in swelling pressure of these soils. It is also appeared that the efficiency of these polymers to reduce the swell pressure of expansive soils depends on the plasticity index of the soil, type of polymer and the percentage which is used.