STRENGTH CHARACTERISTICS OF SOIL TREATED WITH NANO ZINC OXIDE FOR PAVEMENT APPLICATIONS (Paper 778)

Soil improvement is a challenging job and needs to be exercised before taking up any important infrastructural project. An attempt to stabilize the soil by nano zinc oxide was made in this research to showcase the potentialities of the nano technology. Silty sand was mixed with nano zinc oxide by 1%, 1.5% and 2% by dry weight of soil. Further to check the effect on strength, Ordinary Portland cement was added by 2%, 4% and 6% to each proportion by dry weight of soil. The unconfined compressive strength was observed to be increased by 43.5 times on adding 1.5% of nano zinc oxide to the soil. Further on adding cement by 2%, 4% and 6% the unconfined compressive strengths were observed to be enhanced by 45.1%, 107.09% and 147.5% respectively when compared to neat soil. The soil treated with nano zinc oxide and cement satisfies the 7 days unconfined compressive strength criteria for sub base layers in the design of flexible pavements pertaining to the Indian sub continent. This research is thus an attempt to stabilize the soil by adopting the nano technological approach and offer a re-engineered solution for the pavement engineering practices.