Investigation of the Effect of Microsilica on the Variations of Strength, Atterberg Limits and Permeability in Cement-Stabilized Clay

IntroductionSoil stabilization is one of the important issues related to the improvement of poor soils in geotechnical engineering. Today, due to high costs and technical and safety problems in implementation, the use of environmentally friendly and appropriate materials to reduce costs and increase efficiency and safety, is one of the basic needs. In this regard, the use of pozzolans can meet the above expectations. Cement soil stabilization is one of the most common methods of soil improvement, which is presented as an effective method for improving loose soils, especially road construction projects, as well as a suitable solution to improve the physical and engineering properties of soil and reduce costs.Since the presence of soft clays can cause high deformation, low resistance and severe scouring ability, therefore, the presence of this type of soil can damage or destroy a structure (Cong et al. 2014, Do et al. 2016), based on this, various methods such as replacement with suitable materials, various improvement methods to deal with the problems caused by the existence of this type of soil have been presented. Chemical modification using conventional additives such as lime and cement is one of the common solutions for the stabilization of such soils (Ahmed, 2015). In general, the process of soil improvement after interaction with the additive depends on the characteristics of the components and environmental conditions.