Strength Evaluation of Marine Soil Treated with Cockle Shell and Nano Silica via Consolidated Undrained Testing

Abstract:

Marine soils containing shell fragments are typically found in coastal areas and pose a significant problem as they are highly compressible, have low shear strength and settle heavily, hindering infrastructure development. Conventional stabilization methods are often costly and pose a problem for the environment. Alternative solutions are therefore needed to improve the strength of marine soils by sustainable means. Hence, the main aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of cockle shell powder (CS) and nanosilica powder (NS) as sustainable stabilization materials to improve the strength properties of soft marine soils. To achieve this, multi-stage consolidated undrained (CU) triaxial tests were conducted on both untreated and treated soil samples, with 0.7% NS, 10% CS and a combined mixture of 10% CS and 0.7% NS. The tests were conducted under different pressure ratios to determine key strength parameters, including cohesion (c) and internal friction angle (φ). The results showed that the treated soils exhibited a significant increase in strength compared to the untreated samples, with improvements of up to more than 50%. The ANOVA results revealed that the inclusion of cockle shell powder and nanosilica powder had a statistically insignificant influence on the cohesions and friction angles of the treated soils due to the limited number of samples tested under each treatment condition. Furthermore, the multi-stage CU method proved to be efficient in estimating strength parameters while minimizing material consumption and testing time, promoting an environmentally friendly approach to soil improvement in marine environments.

• Periodical: Materials Science Forum (Volume 1172)
• Pages: 115-120
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/p-Y1aNnX
• Online since: December 2025
• Authors: Ahmad Azizi Harun, Mohd Nazri Ngah, Masyitah Md Nujid*, Noorsuhada Md Nor
• Keywords: Cockle Shell, Composite Material, Consolidated Undrained Testing, Treated Marine Soil

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