Climate change effect on stiffness behavior of Lateritic Soil Treated with Ordinary Portland Cement

Posted on August 14, 2022 by azril

Malaysia has used residual tropical soil (laterite soil) as a fill material for construction development. Besides that, about 25% of the total road network in Malaysia is unpaved roads whereby most of the unpaved roads use laterite soil as subgrade due to good engineering properties. However, the huge quantity of fine-grained particles in some lateritic soil exhibits poor engineering qualities and is considered problematic soil by engineers. Annually, several sections of the country have endured flooding and scorching weather. The occurrence caused extensive damage, particularly to the road structure. For example, during the dry season, the suction created has had a substantial impact on the permeability and shear strength of unsaturated soils. While flooding is a concern during this time period, designers should pay more attention to the understanding of the saturated situation. Shear strength, volume change, and compressibility parameters are used in geotechnical design. However, soil stiffness has been less considered, leading to a decrease in the lifespan of geotechnical infrastructure due to fatigue. This study is carried out in order to evaluate the influence of suction on soil stiffness at various strain levels during the wetting and drying cycles. The soil stabilisation method utilising Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) is used to increase the strength of subgrade materials in order to meet the specifications for low-volume road materials. Based on the previous project (FRGS/1/2019/TK01/UTM/02/13) and using a modified oedometer with bender elements, a series of laboratory experiments will be performed using 6 per cent cement content dosages under unsaturated conditions. This study is expected to establish a relationship between the wetting and drying cycles that influence soil stiffness. This method of determining the soil stiffness of lateritic soil treated with OPC under cyclic soaking and drying is recommended as a subgrade material guideline for roads with low traffic volume.

Interested to join this work Please contact Muhammad Azril Hezmi- azril@utm.my

Fig. 1 Distribution of Residual Soil in Malaysia

Fig, 2 Cross section of Pavement and Railway tracks construction

Fig. 3 Stiffness measurement in construction

Fig. 5 Initial Shear stiffness with suction

Consultation & Community Service : Water Supply for Underprivilage Community

Posted on July 1, 2016 by azril

Alhamdulillah I was appointed by Dr. Ali ( Team Leader) for Water Supply project for Under Priviliage Community as Geotechnical Laboratory Team members. The project focused in providing sufficient water supply in remote area in Kahang, Kluang for 15 families of Orang Asli. The team had second site visit on the verification of existing water supply on site. Two options had been identified as solutions for the problem. Both methods will use Ground Water as source of water supply. The methods will be either Vertical Tube Well or Horizontal Well which include River Bank Filteration will be chosen as solution to the water supply.

The team member consists of
1. Dr. Ali
2. Dr. Norhan
3. Prof Maketab

4. Prof Nordin
5. Dr. Faizal

ASEAN Unsaturated Soil Research Framework

Posted on December 29, 2015 by azril

I m looking forward for any colobration in unsaturated soil research framework particularly in ASEAN countries.

Currently we (FKA) had purchase our first unsaturated research apparatus which is 15 bar pressure extractor. Follow with GDS Double Wall Triaxial Cell.

I wish that FKA Geotechnical Research group could further our interest in coupling effect of hydro-mechnanical behaviour of unsaturated soil. Among my future interest on experimental works in Unsaturated as follow:-

Application of variable suction measurement appratus (Osmotic, Axis translation and Filter paper technique)
Application of volume change measurement of unsaturated soil sample using double wall and close range photogrometry or PIV
Investigation of various unsaturated soil types (compacted kaolin, compacted tropical residual soil and peat)
Rainfall induces suction
Early warning system for unsaturated slope stability
Tensile strength of rammed earth

My First Engineering education grant

Posted on November 15, 2015 by azril

Alhamdulillah.. Survey Unit FKA granted research grant on EVALUTION ON PROJECT BASED LEARNING IMPLEMENTATION FOR CIVIL ENGINEERING STUDENTS IN MALAYSIAN UNIVERSITY by Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. Following is the executive summary of the research grant.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

“Implementation of Project Based Learning (PtBL) in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) as part of Outcome Based Education (OBE) framework have faced various challenges (i.e revamp on the undergraduate co-curricullum, required high commitments from academicians & faculty and facilities to cater PtBL activities). This research focused on the effectiveness of PtBL teaching method in an effort to develop the students’ soft skills in tandem with the technical or professional competencies; and problems, challenges and potential improvement in the course. The Survey Camp course which is offered at year one of a four years civil engineering degree programme in the Faculty of Civil Engineering (FKA), UTM and Faculty of Civil Engineering and Enviroment (FKAAS), Universiti Teknologi Tun Hussein Onn (UTHM) was chosen for this study. It is a ten days fieldwork in which the students will carry out an engineering survey project from field to finish in groups of five to six students supervised by the academic staff. Assessment of the technical aspects was based on the students ability to meet the minimum engineering surveying’s standard whereas the assesment of soft skills was conducted during various sessions of the survey projects. Survey questionaires were given at the beginning and the end of the course as part of evaluation of the course effectiveness. The research is expected to evaluate the effectiveness of PtBL in Civil Engineering courses. Soft skills improvement should be seen through the implementation. However, the implementation will be not easy. The problems and difficulties will be guidance on the improvement of teaching methods. This will enable the researcher to established appropirate manual, standard of procedure and quality assessments either in the technical or soft skills on the implementation of course.”