Improvement of Mechanical Properties by Waste Sawdust Ash Addition into Soil

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to utilise waste sawdust ash in a beneficial way for geotechnical purpose. The amount of sawdust generated every year constitutes up to 10-13% of the total volume of wood log. Such an enormous amount serves as waste material for landfill and is not utilized. Effective utilization of waste Sawdust Ash to enhance the engineering properties of soil could result in solution of landfill problem which was the objective of the paper under study. Permeability and Direct Shear Test was conducted to analyse the impact of waste sawdust ash on properties of soil. After noticing the behaviour, the optimum quantity of SDA addition (12%) was selected and further compaction and shrinkage limit test on soil with 12% SDA was conducted. Dry Density of the soil was improved by 7.8%, permeability reduced by 71.8% and shrinkage limit was increased. Further, there was 22.14% increase of friction angle with addition of 12% sawdust ash and shear strength parameters were improved significantly. Overall, the SDA had positive effect on geotechnical properties of soil and it can be used as admixture in soil. This will not only solve the waste disposal problem but also improve the strength characteristics of soil.