Evaluating effect of electro – osmotic improvement on mechanical properties of soft clay

One of the techniques of stabilization soil is the electrical method. In this method, stabilization of fine-grained soils, especially saturated clay soils, is done by reducing the thickness of the double water layer by establishing an electric current. Soft clay is one of the problematic soils, because it is affected by weather conditions, and as a result, building structures on them is always at risk. In this study, to improve and stabilize soft clay soils, the electro-kinetic injection method, which is one of the limited stabilization methods in situ and is very economical in terms of time and cost, was used. For this purpose, a layer of soil with water content and specific gravity in situ is compacted in five layers in a chamber with dimensions of 50*30*20 cm and direct current (DC) with voltages of 1/5 and 1 v/cm of soil mass has been applied for 48 hours. The used electrodes were made of two types of aluminum and graphite and were used in two shapes, rod and plate. The index results of the studies showed that the use of this method increases the unconfined compressive strength from 98 kPa to 223 kPa, decreases the water content from 24 to 15.2 and the plasticity index from 24 to 10. According to the water content, Atterberg limits, unconfined compressive strength and consolidation tests, it was determined that the best performance is related to the use of plate aluminum electrode with a voltage of 1/5.