Study Of The Soil Stabilization Mechanism By Natural Stabilizers - Case Sweet Potato - Banana - Zebu Manure

Abstract

The general objective of this study is to develop a new process for stabilizing laterites at a lower cost. Instead of using traditional stabilizers, especially cement and lime, we opted to use different natural stabilizers for stabilizating lateritic soils. On one hand, we use plants particularly  leaves, stems and starches of  sweet potatoes, as well as  leaves and fluids of the banana  trunk. On the other hand, we propose the stabilization of laterite with zebu manure and some additives such as sugar, urea. Zebu manure from slaughterhouse waste is therefore easy to find. Sweet potato and banana plants are also easy to find since they are abundant and exist all year long. These are the reasons which led us to use them for the treatment of laterites in material for construction.

For each type of stabilizer, we varied its mass percentage in the earth-stabilizer mixture at rates of 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% per mass. Then manufacturing tests were carried out in our laboratory and made it possible to determine the optimal dosage of the various

Inputs. To do this, this study was conducted with the aim of examining the mechanical properties of the Compressed Earth Block (CEB) with used natural stabilizers. This study of the geotechnical, physical and mechanical characteristics of the soil aims to facilitate a rapid identification of the soil, then the implementation of stabilization procedures and the practical determination of the compaction conditions.

With sweet potato plant, the whole can be a good binder for laterite stabilization. Our product composed of 85% of laterite and 15% of whole stabilizer (leaves+stem), gives the best result with a compressive strength of 3.9 MPa in the dry state and 1.7 MPa in the humid state. With banana tree, the binder is 10% for the liquid from banana trunk in this work. This dosage offers the maximum dry strength of 4.25 and 5.0 MPa. And finally, in the presence of organic products (sugar, urea), we obtain the reduction of the ferric oxide of the laterite, which saturated with zebu manure gives compacted test specimens, whose resistance to dry compression can reach 17 MPa and which is water resistant. Indeed, after immersion of 24 hours, their strengths still reach 5.2 MPa.