Effects of fly ash column treatment of HP clayey soils on seismic behavior of R/C structures

The behavior of soil directly affects not only its stability condition but also structural response of structural systems. High-plasticity clay soil (CH) is vulnerable to volumetric swelling leading to different settlements in structural systems. Hence, it becomes indispensable to propose practical solutions to reducing this effect. In the present study, structural response of R/C frame buildings, resting on high plasticity clayey soils strengthened through the coal fly ash column technique, to earthquake motion is investigated. For this aim, the swelling behavior of high plasticity clay soil (CH) is identified with in-situ experimental tests on the regions with high swelling potential in the city of Kirikkale, Turkey. In order to reduce the swelling potential of the investigated regions, the coal fly ash column technique was implemented to the reference soil specimen with high swelling percentage of 15.6%. Experimental results obtained from the strengthened soil specimens were compared to those from the reference specimen. This comparison revealed that the coal fly ash column approach has a considerable effect on improving the swelling behavior of the high plasticity clay soil. The decrease in the volumetric swelling value is also thought to directly improve the response of a building structure settled on high plasticity clay soil. The improvement in the seismic response of existing R/C structures located in the regions with high swelling potential was identified by adopting the increased allowable bearing pressure value of the improved soil in the analyses. Based on the comparative study, structural earthquake response of R/C frame systems was investigated on the basis of the engineering parameters, including the base-shear force, base overturning moment, base axial force and settlement of foundation. The percent changes in these values showed that the base axial force and settlement of foundation were improved with the help of this strengthening application.