Effect of Rice Husk Ash (RHA) as a Pozzolan on the Strength Improvement of Cement Stabilized Peat

Authors

  • Mohd Khaidir Abu Talib Research Centre for Soft Soil, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, Batu Pahat, Johor, 86400, Malaysia
  • Siti Nor Hidayah Arifin Institute for Integrated Engineering (I²E), Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, Batu Pahat, Johor, 86400, Malaysia
  • Aziman Madun Faculty of Civil Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, Batu Pahat, Johor, 86400, Malaysia
  • Mohd Firdaus Md Dan Faculty of Civil Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, Batu Pahat, Johor, 86400, Malaysia
  • Faizal Pakir Faculty of Civil Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, Batu Pahat, Johor, 86400, Malaysia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.37934/aram.114.1.8393

Keywords:

Compressive strength, pozzolan, peat soil stabilization, cement substitution

Abstract

Cement is one of the most effective conventional methods for peat soil stabilization. However, this method is not environmentally friendly because the use of too much cement causes much carbon dioxide to be produced for cement production. Rice husk ash (RHA) is applied as substitution for Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) in this study. RHA is waste generated from agricultural activities formed from the rice husk combustion process and will help mitigate pollution and disposal problems by recycling this waste in peat soil stabilization. Therefore, the study aims to investigate the basic characteristics of Pontian peatlands and assess the strengths of peat soils by using RHA. Laboratory tests including moisture content, organic content, fibre content, liquid limit, particle size analysis, unconfined compressive strength (UCS) and the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) together with Energy Dispersive X-Ray (EDX) analysis were experimented to investigate properties base of peatlands located at Pontian with the proportion of mixing ratio of RHA between 5% to 20%. Based on UCS test, at RHA 5% replacement mixture with cement shows the higher soil strength compared to other RHA replacement mixture with cement with the strength of 185 kN/m2, 233 kN/m2, and 278 kN/m2 for 7, 14 and 28 days of curing periods, respectively. The research found that RHA can promote peat stabilization, particularly in samples with a 95% cement ratio and 5% RHA that can be a countermeasure for environmental issues such as pollution and energy use.  

Author Biographies

Mohd Khaidir Abu Talib, Research Centre for Soft Soil, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, Batu Pahat, Johor, 86400, Malaysia

khaidir@uthm.edu.my

Siti Nor Hidayah Arifin, Institute for Integrated Engineering (I²E), Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, Batu Pahat, Johor, 86400, Malaysia

norhidayah@uthm.edu.my

Aziman Madun, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, Batu Pahat, Johor, 86400, Malaysia

aziman@uthm.edu.my

Mohd Firdaus Md Dan, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, Batu Pahat, Johor, 86400, Malaysia

firdausd@uthm.edu.my

Faizal Pakir, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, Batu Pahat, Johor, 86400, Malaysia

faizalp@uthm.edu.my

Downloads

Published

2024-02-23

How to Cite

Mohd Khaidir Abu Talib, Siti Nor Hidayah Arifin, Aziman Madun, Mohd Firdaus Md Dan, & Faizal Pakir. (2024). Effect of Rice Husk Ash (RHA) as a Pozzolan on the Strength Improvement of Cement Stabilized Peat. Journal of Advanced Research in Applied Mechanics, 114(1), 83–93. https://doi.org/10.37934/aram.114.1.8393

Issue

Section

Articles

Most read articles by the same author(s)