Study on unconfined compression strength and non-destructive analysis of soil stabilized with waste marble powder under freeze-thaw cycles

In cold environments, knowledge of the impacts of freezing and thawing cycles on the strength of fine-grained soil stabilized with waste marble powder at various water contents is crucial for earth structures, foundation technology, road and railway technology, and so on. The aim of the thesis is the determination of the strength and durability performance of waste Elazig Cherry marble powder-fine grained soil mixtures depending on waste marble content, water content, and freeze-thaw cycles using the unconfined compressive strength (UCS) and ultrasonic pulse velocities (UPV). Experimental results showed that UCS peak values were observed at the lowest water content before and after the freeze-thaw cycles. The stress-strain curves exhibited strain-softening behavior, and this condition transitioned to strain hardening behavior after freeze-thaw cycles with an increment in the water content. Moreover, the highest values of UPV were observed to increase UCS values due to capillary forces at minimum water content. Also, an increase in the number of freeze-thaw cycles resulted in a decrease in the UPV. Moreover, the best enhancement was seen on 40% of cherry marble powder. The stress-strain plots displayed changes from inelastic to elastic behavior under the freeze-thaw cycles with rising water content. However, the stabilized soils behaved more elastic behavior than pure soils. Moreover, both UCS and UPV drop in value with increment in freeze-thaw cycles but this effect is less at higher powder content and at lower water content. The lowest mass loss occurred at the lowest water content and at higher waste cherry marble powder content.