Stimulation Behaviour Study on Clay Treated with Ground Granulated Blast Slag and Groundnutshell Ash

The major decision in construction process involves the selection of suitable site with best soil conditions, as structure resides in the soil. Most problematic soils like expansive soils hardly proved to be the best engineering subgrade profile for pavement constructions. Thus, this has undeniably led to the soil improvement options accompanying the reduction in resource depletion and solid waste management. Therefore, soil stabilization technique opted in the treatment of expansive soils. In concern of all these facts in this study, an effort was made in investigating the viability of utilizing industrial waste Ground Granulated Blast furnace Slag (GGBS) and agricultural waste Groundnut Shell Ash (GSA) as stabilizing agents. Two soils of different swell characteristics were treated with varying percentages of GGBS (2.5, 5, 7.5, and 10%) and GSA (2, 4, 6, 8, and 10%) at different curing periods of 28 and 60 days. The ascending behaviour of strength was experimentally analyzed by conducting Unconfined Compressive Strength and California Bearing Ratio (CBR) tests. The uptrend in peak stresses coupled with improved CBR value implicated the efficacy of cost-effective waste materials in ascending the strength nature of the soil, thereby amplifying the growth of construction sector. Thus, this study catalyzed in enhancing the bearing strength of clayey soil; in this manner making it well suitable for multitudinous geotechnical applications.