Enhancing Soil with Low-Cost Pozzolanic Materials: Rice Husk Ash and Groundnut Shell Ash Compared to Cement

Abstract

This study investigates whether low-cost pozzolanic materials such as rice husk ash, groundnut shell ash can improvement soil used in the study that are classified as Low-plasticity clays (cl) and activity of it equal to 1.05 as a replacement for traditional, costly additives. the percentage are used be 4%, 6%, 8%, and 10% of weight soil for each additive. chemical properties were studied for rice husk ash, groundnut shell ash, and cement Portland such as CaO, SiO2, Al2O3, Fe2O3, MgO, K2O, and Na2O. Also, pre-and post-mixture soil was tested for Atterberg's Limit, Activity, Shrinkage Limit, Clay value, Proctor Standard Compaction, and Unconfined Compressive Strength. Untreated soil samples were compared to treated ones. Adding 8% cement OPC, 10% groundnut shell ash, and 10% rice husk ash enhanced soil cohesiveness from 21 to 57.5, 52, and 45 kPa, respectively, also the optimal soil moisture content dropped from 15% to 8%, 10.5%, and 10% for mixes. Increased mixer percentages lead to reduced maximum dry unit weight and optimized water content. Based on these observations aims to develop effective solutions for treatment expensive soil in engineering and construction projects.