Shear behavior of rice husk ash and cement treated soil

Shear behavior of treated soil

Abstract

Based on recent research, rice husk ash (RHA) is used as a secondary cementitious material for soil stabilization. The present study attempted to investigate the shear behavior of soil mixtures with RHA and a nominal cement dose. Triaxial compression and scanning electron microscopy tests were performed on specimens after moisture-curing for 1-day. The test results showed that all the soil-RHA-cement samples reached the maximum deviatoric stress value at 2-3% axial strain, compared to 2.5-5.5% for the untreated soil. Soil with 5% RHA and 0.6% cement admixture achieved the highest strength (677.5kPa) under the confining pressure 150kPa and the best microstructural improvement. It can be recommended as the optimum amount for practical purposes during designing and constructing different agricultural infrastructures.