Effects of Saw Dust Ash on Geotechnical Properties of Clayey Soil

Clay is a type of problematic soils that can cause problems such as swelling, settlement and significant deformation due to the absorption of water and moisture. Today, the use of available and waste materials to prevent environmental pollution to stabilize problematic soils is considered that one of these materials is sawdust ash. In the present study, the possibility of improving the properties of clay using sawdust ash has been assessed. For this purpose, sawdust ash with weight percentages of 3, 6, 9 was mixed with clay and then cured for 1, 7 and 14 days. In order to evaluate the geotechnical behavior of stabilized soil, Atterberg limits, standard compoaction, uniaxial compressive strength, direct shear, California bearing ratio (CBR) and consolidation tests have been performed. The results of the present study show that the optimum amount of sawdust ash is equal to 3% during the curing time of 14 days. In improved soil, the placticity index is 49%, the compression index is reduced by 40% and the maximum dry intensity is up to 14%, the uniaxial compressive strength is 65% and the shear strength at the moment of failure is on average 53.6% compared to not the stabilization state increased.