Performance Evaluation of Clayey Soil Considering Impact of Lime During Electrokinetic Consolidation

Electrokinetics has gained importance as a sustainable soil modification and remediation method for improving problematic sites. The formation of cracks during the electrokinetic treatment is an important concern during the field implementation of the process. Therefore, considering this, this study investigated the impact of a voltage gradient on the performance evaluation of electrokinetic consolidation clayey soil after adding a lime. The performance was evaluated regarding cumulative discharge, surface settlement, power consumption, reducing water content, alteration in soil pH, and crack formation. The surface settlement increases by 50% for the applied voltage gradient of 1.00 V/cm compared to that of 0.25 V/cm. The power consumption in the case of 1.00 V/cm after the addition of lime is 3.67 times compared to that without lime; however, the difference is insignificant for 0.50 V/cm. Further, the pH near the cathode increases to 10.94 from 7.81 after the addition of lime in the case of 0.50 V/cm. Finally, adding lime helps drastically reduce the surface crack formed during the electrokinetic treatment.