Desiccation Induced Shrinkage of Compacted Tropical Clay Treated with Rice Husk Ash

Abstract

Desiccation studies are an integral part of material selection for waste containment systems. Laboratory studies on compacted tropical clay (with illite as the dominant clay mineral sourced from an excavation site) treated with up to 16% rice husk ash (RHA); an agro-industrial waste to evaluate its desiccation induced shrinkage and hence its suitability as a cover material in waste containment systems were carried out. Soil-RHA mixtures were compacted using three compactive efforts at -2, 0, 2 and 4% of optimum moisture content (OMC). Compacted samples, extruded from the compaction mould were allowed to air dry in the laboratory for a 30 day period after which they were subjected to two cycles of wetting and drying. Results show that changes in mass and volumetric shrinkage strain (VSS) were large within the first five days of drying and were affected by the compactive effort. VSS increased with higher moulding water content, water content relative to optimum and RHA treatments. VSS were affected by the compactive effort. Acceptable compaction planes were obtained for up to 12% RHA treatment. After two cycles of wetting and drying, it was observed that the rate of capillary rise within the compacted soil increased with lower compactive effort and higher rice husk ash treatment. Lower amount of cracking was observed in soil specimen with higher rice husk ash treatment and higher cracking in soils with lower rice husk ash content. Increased compactive effort reduced the effect of swelling during wetting; showing the suitability of the material as a cover in municipal waste containment facility and beneficial reuse of this agro waste product.