Strength Characteristics of Clayey Soil Stabilized with Nano-silica

Due to rapid growth in urbanization and industrialization, waste utilization becomes an important aspect of the conservation of the environment. With the progression in the field of Geotechnical Engineering, waste materials like rice husk ash, fly ash, agro-industry waste, silica fume, etc. find their way in soil improvement techniques. Soil, in its natural state, at a construction site may not always be suitable for supporting structures. The constructions at a site composed of clay possess great challenge due to settlement. This research is intended to study the effect of adding nano-silica on the strength characteristics of clayey soil. A series of laboratory experiments have been conducted on the virgin soil and the soil blended with nano-silica content at 5–20% by weight of dry soil. The experimental results showed an increase in optimum moisture content with the increase in nano-silica content. It was found that unconfined compressive strength also showed an increase in the addition of stabilizing material. From the investigation, it can be concluded that nano-silica particles have a potential to improve the engineering properties of the clayey soil along with its proper utilization from the environmental point of view.