ORIGINAL PAPER Experimental study on stabilization of a low plasticity clayey soil with cement/lime M. R. Asgari & A. Baghebanzadeh Dezfuli & M. Bayat Received: 1 April 2013 /Accepted: 4 November 2013 # Saudi Society for Geosciences 2013 Abstract One of the possible problems that may be encoun- tered by execution of future projects such as highway, mass construction, and also industrial buildings in Farmahin (in the northwestern of Arak, Iran) is low strength and large defor- mation of the field soil. Such soils can be treated with the general traditional soil stabilization methods such as lime or cement stabilization methods. In the current study, the effects of two types of additive for the soil (i.e., lime/cement) on the geotechnical and engineering properties of the soil are studied. The results of the study indicate that optimum moisture con- tent, maximum dry unit weight, and plasticity index are af- fected by the addition of cement or lime. Also cement treat- ment results in increase of unconfined compressive strength (UCS) of the soils significantly, whereas the test results indi- cate that there is an optimum of lime content so that the addition of a few percentage of lime results in increase of unconfined compressive strength. Generally, improvement in mechanical behaviors of the soil due to cement treatment was noticeably higher than lime treatment. Also the results of tests show that the change of UCS of the specimens with the initial water content and curing time is significant, so that decreasing of initial water content or increasing of curing time results in increase of USC of the specimens. Also, the current study sought to characterize the relationship between secant modu- lus (E 50 ) and UCS, curing time, and cement or lime content. Keywords Stabilization . Lime . Cement . Initial water content . Geotechnical properties . Secant modulus Introduction Increased costs related to the use of high-quality materials have led to the need for local soils to be used in construction projects. Often, however, unsuitable engineering properties of these soils such as workability and low strength case the problems for the construction projects. Frequently, additives such as lime, cement, fly ash, lime–cement–fly ash admixture, emulsified asphalt, geofiber, and polymer are used to improve their geotechnical properties. Therefore, soil improvement techniques have been rapidly developed in geotechnical pro- jects. Several stabilization methods are used to improve engi- neering properties of soils such as compaction, consolidation, grouting, admixtures, reinforcement, thermal, etc. In most cases, the soils are treated to increase the shear strength, loading capacity, stability, and for deformation control. On the other hand, the choice and effectiveness of an additive depends on the soil type and its field conditions; nevertheless, knowledge of mechanical behavior of treated soil has signif- icant effect on choice of the stabilizer. The improvement of engineering properties of soil by adding chemicals such as cement, fly ash, lime, or a combi- nation of these often alters the physical and chemical proper- ties of the treated soil. There are the two primary mechanisms by which chemicals improve the performance of the soil alter: 1. Increase in particle size due to cementation, increase in shear strength, change in the plasticity properties, and reduced deformation potential 2. Absorption and chemical binding of moisture that will facilitate compaction It is more than several years that the focus of the researches has been on the stabilization of soils using various additives M. R. Asgari Department of Civil Engineering, Farahan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Farahan, Iran A. Baghebanzadeh Dezfuli Department of Civil Engineering, Dezful Branch, Islamic Azad University, Dezful, Iran M. Bayat (*) Young Researchers and Elite Club, Khomein Branch, Islamic Azad University, Khomein, Iran e-mail: m.bayat.civil@gmail.com M. Bayat e-mail: bayat.m@ut.ac.ir Arab J Geosci DOI 10.1007/s12517-013-1173-1