Effect Of Sugarcane Bagasse Ash And Cement On Swelling Characteristics Of Expansive Soil Around Mojo

Abstract

Expansive soils are available all over the globe and having swelling and shrinkage characteristics depending upon the moisture variations. During rainy season, these soils undergo enormous swelling and cause lot of swelling pressure and during summer season, they undergo shrinkage i.e. volume reduction. The increase in volume during rainy season and decrease in volume during dry season is a cyclic process and one can notice in these soils commonly. This study aimed to investigate the effect of applying bagasse ash in combination with cement or Ordinary Portland Cement on the engineering properties of treated soils. The laboratory work involved grain size analysis and index property determination to classify soil samples. Atterberg limit test, Proctor test, unconfined compressive test, California Bearing Ratio Tests, swelling potential and swelling pressure were used to evaluate properties of treated soils. Expansive soil was treated using 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% bagasse ash and 2%, 4%, 6% and 8% cement with fixed addition of 10% BA the respective combinations of the additives by dry weight of the soil. The optimum percentage of bagasse ash was found out be 10% BA based on the Unconfined Compressive Strength (UCS) test result. Soil sample taken for this study was clay with high plasticity (CH) which truly requires to be strengthened. The soil was stabilized with different percentages of bagasse ash and a small amount of cement. Observations were made for the changes in the properties of the soil such as Maximum dry density (MDD), Optimum moisture content (OMC), California Bearing Ratio (CBR) and Unconfined Compressive Stress (UCS). The result shows that the increase in bagasse ash content increases the OMC but decreases the MDD. Also, the value of CBR and UCS of soil increase considerably improved with the BA and cement content. The optimum amount was found to be in the proportion of 88% ES plus10%BA and 2%CE.This study shows that the stabilized material was suitable for pavement.