Novel grey-vector optimization of desiccation-induced shrinkage and strength of industrial waste-based soil-composite binder as sustainable construction material

Infrastructural development geared towards sustainable cities and communities requires the adoption of sustainable construction materials. As a contribution towards this, optimization of the unconfined compressive strength (UCS) and desiccation-induced shrinkage (DS) behavior of expansive soil stabilized with alkali-activated waste materials was executed. A novel approach was applied for the multiple characteristics optimization of the developed industrial waste-based soil-composite binder for use in construction. Laboratory experiments were done employing Taguchi design and considering several process parameters. The outcome of the single response optimization based on Taguchi signal-to-noise ratio (SN) analysis resulted in conflicting optimal levels for the UCS and DS. Hence, a novel multi-response optimization was applied to concurrently optimize the UCS and DS based on grey-vector analysis (GVA). The outcome of the GVA identified the greatest factor effects on the vector resultant to be waste quantity, type and preparation method. The new method was compared with the renowned Taguchi-grey relational analysis and was found to be more computationally efficient, in addition to matched performance based on Euclidean distance between the optimal solutions. Thus, the new method can serve construction engineers in development of alkali-activated waste-treated soil as sustainable construction material for embankments and waste containment.