Performance evaluation of biopolymer-treated Black cotton soil (India)

This paper investigates the effect of biopolymers namely xanthan gum (XG) and guar gum (GG) for stabilizing black cotton soil. In recent years, it was observed that the usage of biopolymers has significantly reduced environmental effects due to traditional stabilization process. Biopolymers are synthesized products of microorganisms and plants emerging as a suitable alternative to ground improvement. In the current experimental work individual and combined performance of xanthan gum and guar gum has been observed. The variation of xanthan gum and guar gum was kept as 2%, 3% and 5% of dry soil weight. The results showed a significant improvement in strength properties of the soil. The OMC-MDD relation was assessed through both standard and heavy compactions. Maximum dry density showed a noteworthy increment whereas the optimum moisture content was found to decrease in case of heavy compaction. The trend was exactly opposite for OMC and MDD in case of standard compaction. An increasing trend was observed in consistency limit values with increase in additive percentage. Overall it was observed that xanthan gum showed comparatively better performance than guar gum.