CHARACTERIZATION AND MECHANICAL PERFORMANCE OF RICE HUSK ASH AND CALCIUM CARBIDE RESIDUE-BASED GEOPOLYMER FOR SUSTAINABLE HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTION
Abstract
The depletion of natural resources and the growing concerns over environmental sustainability
have led to the exploration of innovative construction materials that reduce the carbon footprint
of infrastructure projects. This project aims at determining the effect of Rice Husk Ash (RHA)
and Calcium Carbide Residue-based geopolymer on the strength properties of lateritic soil,
with it objectives centered on evaluating the index and geotechnical properties of the soil in
their natural state; determining the effect of RHA and CCR geopolymers on geotechnical
properties of lateritic soil; and obtaining the optimum percentage of RHA-CCR based
geopolymer.
Laboratory experiment such as natural moisture content, specific gravity, sieve analysis and
Atterberg limit‟s test were conducted to determine the index properties of the soil in its natural
state. Also, compaction test was conducted to determine the index properties of the lateritic soil
in its natural state. These laboratory experiments showed that the liquid limit (LL), Plastic limit
(PL) and the plasticity index (PI) of the soil were 16%, 7.905% and 8.09% respectively. From
the compaction result, the optimum water content and maximum dry density are 9.5% and
1.6kg/m3 respectively. From the result, it is observed that the soil is not suitable for engineering
construction, hence the need for adequate stabilization. From Preliminary analysis conducted
with RHA, a fixed amount of RHA at 6% was combined with combined with CCR sample at
10%, 20% and 30%. With the introduction of 10 and 12 molarity of NaOH and Na2SiO3 on a
ratio of 1:2 as alkaline activator, the mixture of soil, RHA and CCR was bonded together. The
samples were cured at 7, 14 and 28 days respectively. The results of showed that geopolymers
were increasing with curing age. At 28 days curing age, 12M of NaOH gave a maximum
compressive strength of 1.64 Mpa. The optimum percentage of RHA and CCR required for
adequate soil stabilization were also obtained to as 6% and 10% respectively
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