Global Research Trends in Engineered Soil Development through Stabilization.

What is it about?

Soil, a naturally occurring resource, is increasingly used as a construction material. Stabilization strengthens soil, which is weak as an engineering material. Stabilizing soil changes its physical qualities, enhancing its strength. Soil stabilization increases the shear strength and load-bearing capacity. Soil stabilization refers to any endeavor to change natural soil for engineering purposes using physical, chemical, mechanical, or biological methods, or a mix of these. Strengthening road pavements includes improving the load-bearing capacity, tensile strength, and performance of unstable subsoils, sands, and waste materials. Due to market demands and scientific advances, the number of soil-stabilizing additives has increased. These innovative stabilizers include reinforcing fiber's, calcium chloride, sodium chloride, and cross-linking water-based styrene acrylic polymers, which are geopolymers that boost the load-bearing capacity and tensile strength of soil. Many materials are being explored for soil stabilization. In this article, the authors investigated the direction of soil stabilization research. Scientometric analysis identifies stabilization challenges and research trends in the field. This study analyzed research patterns by countries, authors, institutions, keywords, and journals from 1959 to 2023; in 2021, 150 articles were published, which was the highest number in a year. Citations peaked at 3084 in 2022. With 253 publications and 3084 citations, India was the most productive country. Iran and France published the fewest, 34 and 33, respectively. The Islamic Azad University and the National Institute of Technology had the fewest published articles with 17 articles. This work can help track soil stabilization research and will serve as an information document for future research.

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Why is it important?

Expansive soils that exhibit swell–shrink characteristics when exposed to water are treated as highly problematic soils when considered for civil engineering purposes [1]. They are frequently found in many parts of the world and can cover large portions of countries. The widespread use of natural resources to fuel the building industry’s rapid expansion is a major cause of concern among eco-activists. When constructing roads, bridges, and other infrastructures on expansive soil, which expands and contracts depending on the weather, civil engineers face many challenges. Over 20% of India is made up of black cotton soils [2,3,4,5]. Variations in the moisture content cause these soils to exhibit considerable differences in swelling, compressibility, and shear strength, ultimately resulting in structural failure. When soil fails, the structure resting on the soil also becomes vulnerable, and hence, strengthening the soil to increase its durability is mandatory. Various methods have been employed to enhance the soil’s strength; one such method is stabilisation, which is performed by utilising chemical and mineral admixtures either together or individually. Soil stabilisation is a method adopted to improve the soil’s mechanical strength, permeability, compressibility, durability, and plasticity, among other desirable technical features [6]. Physical and mechanical methods exist for enhancing the soil quality, but the term “stabilisation” is used to refer to the incorporation of chemical admixtures into soil to improve its quality. Engineering structures including backfill for bridge abutments and retaining walls, as well as sub-base constructions and development of basements, foundations, and embankments, are examples of structures that benefit from stabilized soil. Soil stabilization is a vital element of most building projects, from the commercial construction to environmental rehabilitation [7]. Soil stabilization is the process of transforming unconsolidated unstable soil into a more rigid stable medium that can support constructed structures, change permeability, alter subsurface movement, or immobilize pollution by mineral precipitation.

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