Improvement of clayey soil characteristics by using activated carbon

Abstract

The clay soil is weak and unable to carry the applied loads as a result of the weight of buildings or vehicles on the load performing on the soil. In this research, clay soil was grained and mixed with different percentages of activated carbon additives to investigate its performance. One type of clay soil from Al-Taji city was used. The percentages of activated carbon 3, 5, 7 and 9% were added to the soil and the influence of the admixture was observed by comparing the results with the untreated soil. The selected properties for this comparison were specific gravity, consistency limits, compaction, static compaction, CBR, consolidation, swelling and unconfined compressive strength. The results showed that the plasticity index, maximum dry weight and specific gravity decreased as the percentage of additives increased. The unconfined compressive strength increased as the percentage of additives and curing periods (1, 7, 14 and 28)days increased. The amount of increase in soil strength was even more than 100% for the 9% activatedcarbon. The results showed that the addition of activated carbon has a positive effect to the geotechnical properties.