Geotechnical Properties of Clayey Soil Stabilized with Rice Husk and Cement

Abstract

Rice husk (RH), as stabilizing element, can be both, cost effective and environmentally beneficial, because of its local abundance and for its ability to strengthen the soil in its original form. This paper investigates the effectiveness of using RH and cement as a stabilizing agent in the soft clayey soil. In this research, the clayey soil has been mixed with varying percentages of RH (5%, 10%, 15% and 20%) and at the same time, these samples have been further mixed with a fixed 2% cement content and all of them have been tested to analyze their influence on soil properties (specific gravity, Atterberg limits, linear shrinkage and shear strength). By dissecting the results, liquid limit and plastic limit values have increased and the plasticity index value has decreased, which, as a result, classified the soil as silt rather than clay. Moreover, the decrease of linear shrinkage value signified shrink resistance behavior of the altered soil. The direct shear testing has further established, the soil's high shear resistance characteristic by visualizing the increase of cohesion and angle of internal friction value. It can also be revealed that, the altercation of the clayey soil with 15% RH and 15% RH+2% cement might be feasible, cost effective and environmentally friendly in stabilizing the soil, as these two mixtures indicated the most promising improvements of the soil's geotechnical properties.