Journal of King Saud University – Engineering Sciences 32 (2020) 11–18

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Journal of King Saud University – Engineering Sciences

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Original article

Effect of rice husk ash admixed with treated sisal fibre on properties of
lateritic soil as a road construction material
J.E. Sani a, P. Yohanna b,⇑, I.A. Chukwujama a
a
Department of Civil Engineering, Nigeria Defence Academy, Kaduna, Nigeria
b
Department of Civil Engineering, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna, Nigeria

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The effect of rice husk ash admixed with treated sisal fibre on properties of lateritic soil as a road con-
Received 3 May 2018 struction material was studied. The natural soil falls under A-7-6(10) classification using the American
Accepted 7 November 2018 Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) classification and CL (Lean Clay)
Available online 10 November 2018
according to Unified Soil Classification System (USCS). Treatment of the soil was done with Rice Husk
Ash (RHA) and treated Sisal Fibre (SF) in stepped concentrations of 0, 2, 4, 6, 8% and 0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75,
Keywords: 1.0% by dry weight of soil, respectively. Preliminary test, compaction test (using British Standard light
Lateritic soil
(BSL) energy) and unconfined compressive strength (UCS) test were carried out. Analysis of variance
Rice husk ash
Sisal fibre
was carried out using Microsoft Excel Analysis Tool Pak Software Package. Mini-tab R15 Software was
Analysis of variance (ANOVA) used for regression analysis. Laboratory results were used to generate reliability indices using a
Regression analysis FORTRAN based first order reliability program. Outcome of the laboratory tests show that MDD decreased
Reliability index from 1.85 mg/m3 for the natural soil to 1.73 mg/m3 at 0% RHA/1% SF content. The OMC increased from
18% for the natural soil to 26.5% at 6% RHA/1% SF content. The UCS increased from 100.57 kN/m2 for
the natural soil to 139.38 kN/m2 at 0% RHA/0.25%SF content by dry weight of soil. The increasing trend
continued to 696.63 kN/m2 at optimum 6% RHA/0.75%SF content by dry weight of soil, which met the reg-
ulatory minimum UCS value of 687–1373 kN/m2 for pavement applications. Reliability indices varied for
all the variables considered with MDD and OMC having more significant effect on the UCS. Based on the
results obtained, an optimum blend of 6%RHA/0.75% SF content by dry weight of soil is recommended for
used as sub-based material for lightly trafficked roads.
Ó 2018 The Authors. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of King Saud University. This is an
open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction viours and composition, mode of formation, place of formation,

Laterites are residual soils obtained from the decomposition of
common silicate rocks after leaching and washing away of silica,
alkali and alkaline earth materials from the weathering processes.
Laterites are composed of oxides of iron, aluminium and other oxi-
des of metals (particularly Titanium and Manganese oxides),
because they are the least soluble components of the rocks. Past
researches defined the term laterites based on their own percep-
tion and understanding of its characteristics/properties, beha-
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: paulyohanna45@yahoo.co.uk (P. Yohanna).
Peer review under responsibility of King Saud University.
Production and hosting by Elsevier
colour and content of silicates and sesquioxides. Fermor (1911)
successfully classified laterites into three major groups thus; true
laterites, silicate laterites and lateritic clays. These classes of later-
ites were used depending upon the contents of hydroxides in the
respective soils. The nomenclatures proposed served as the basis
used by Pendelton and Sharasuvana (1946). It has been reported
by Pendelton and Sharasuvana (1946) that laterites are soils in
which a laterite horizon is found while lateritic soils on the other
hand exist or behaves as immature laterite horizons where a true
laterite horizon will develop if appropriate or favourables condi-
tions prevails. Ola (1983) described laterite soil as all products of
tropical weathering of rocks with red, dark brown colour or,
brownish colour with or without nodules or concretions. Laterite
soils depending on the quantity of halloysites and montmoril-
lonites are known to be expansive with varying decree of expansiv-
ity. Seasonal changes cause expansion and contraction of such soils
which makes them unsuitable for engineering applications such as
road construction. Therefore, the need to improve such soils to

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jksues.2018.11.001
1018-3639/Ó 2018 The Authors. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of King Saud University.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
12 J.E. Sani et al. / Journal of King Saud University – Engineering Sciences 32 (2020) 11–18
meet up with the minimum requirement for engineering applica-
tions is necessary. Application of industrial and agricultural wastes
such as iron ore tailings, rice husk ash, bagasse ash. etc for soil
improvement, development of metal matrix composites, produc-
tion of various silicon-based materials, active carbon, Eco-
fabrication of hierarchical porous silica monoliths by ice-
templating of rice husk ash among others serves various benefits
to the environment (Alhassan, 2008; Soltani et al., 2015; Bahrami
et al.,2016; Amin et al.,2017).
The term agricultural waste includes all waste materials that
are discarded by the community after using the edible parts.
Improper management of agricultural waste causes adverse effects
on ecology which may lead to possible outbreaks of diseases and
epidemics. RHA is an agricultural waste produced from burning
rice husks. In general, the type of ash varies considerably depend-
ing on the burning technique adopted. The silica in the ash passes
through some transformations depending on the environment con-
ditions (time, temperature etc.) that affect the rate of combustion.
At temperature range between 550 °C and 800 °C amorphous ash is
usually formed and at temperatures greater than this, crystalline
ash is usually formed. These types of silica have different proper-
ties and it is important to produce ash of the correct specification
for the particular end use. Rice husk is an agricultural waste
obtained from rice milling and about 108 tons are usually produced
annually in the world (Alhassan, 2008). For instance in Bangladesh,
It has been reported that about 39.3 million ton of rice is produced
annually which generate about 9.83 million ton of rice husk after
milling, in which the paddy is used as animal food and as fuel in
rural areas (Mustafi, 2005).
Earth reinforcement is an ancient technique and demonstrated
abundantly in nature by animals, birds and the action of tree roots.
This technique has been used for the improvement of certain
desired properties of soil like shear strength, permeability, com-
paction, bearing capacity. These fibres usually serve as interlock
particles or materials and group of particles in a uniform coherent
matrix (Prabakar and Sridhar, 2002). Recent researches focused on
the use of natural fibres obtained from trees for soil improvement
purposes. Reinforcement of soils has gained wide acceptance in
geotechnical engineering applications because of the advantage
of their economy, availability, easy workability, easy handling, rel-
ative abundance, and they are environmentally friendly (Mattone,
2005; Li, 2009). SF is usually sourced from the leaves of the sisal
plant (agave sisalana) through mechanical means i.e machine
decortications there after the leaf is being crushed between rollers,
washed and dried (FAO, 2011).
Several literatures reported improvement on the geotechnical
properties of treated soil with SF. The effect of SF on strength, dura-
bility and ductility of soil was tested by Prabakar and Sridhar
(2002) using fibre of lengths 10–25 mm at 5 mm increment with
the content varying from 0 to 1% at 0.25 increments. Both the
OMC and MDD of the mixture reduced with fibre content and fibre
length. The shear strength increased with fibre length and fibre
content up to about 0.75% fibre content and thereafter reduced. A
work on palm and jute fibre was carried out and reported by
Ahmad et al. (2010) to reinforce a cohesive soil. They used palm
fibres of 15, 30 and 45 mm at 0.25 and 0.5% by dry weight of the
soil. The cohesion and friction angle observed to increase with
fibres content and with fibre length. (Soleimani, 2013) used coco-
nut on a silty-sand soil classified as an SM soil to determine the
bearing capacity of the compacted soil. The soil was reinforced at
0, 0.8, 1.8, 2.4 and 3.2% by dry weight of the soil using two aspect
ratios of 35 mm and 50 mm length fibres. The author observed a
rapid improvement in soil shear strength which obviously meant
an increase in soil bearing capacity.
Research work by Tanko (2015) suggested that SF are bio-
degradable in nature because of the presence of cellulose present
in the fibres which when used in their natural form for reinforcing
soil can degrade at long time curing. Therefore the SF used for this
research work was treated with Sodium Borohydride (NaBH4) (1%
wt/Vol) as recommended by Moraes et al. (2011). 3.5 cm length of
SF was adopted as recommended by Tanko (2015) who stated that
the peak values of strength gain in lateritic soil stabilized SF was
obtained at 3.5 cm length.
Recent researches (Mohammad et al., 2013; Yisa and Sani,
2014; Yohanna et al., 2015, 2018; Mina et al., 2016; Osinubi
et al., 2016; Gadzama et al., 2017; Sani et al., 2017) focused on
the use of statistical tools and techniques in many aspects of
geotechnical engineering and other fields. Sani et al. (2017) worked
on reliability evaluation of optimum moisture content of tropical
black clay treated with locust bean waste ash as road pavement
sub-base material and reported on the use of regression model as
a limit state equation for the reliability analysis yielding good
results. The optimum moisture content of compaction (OMC) was
taken to be a dependent variable while; gravel content (GR); sand
content (Sa) ; plasticity index (PI); Locust bean waste ash (LBWA);
specific gravity (Gs); and percentage fine (PF) were taken to be
independent parameters and used to calculate their respective reli-
ability indices. Results produced showed that reliability index is
sensitive to changes in all the soil variables with the exception of
percentage fine PF which have invariably a steady reliability index
values within the specified range of coefficient of variation.
The aim of this study was to explore the possible effect of RHA
admixed with sisal fibre on geotechnical properties of lateritic soil
for use as pavement material. The objectives were to determine the
changes in the geotechnical properties with step concentration of
RHA (0, 2, 4, 6, and 8% by dry weight of soil) and SF (0, 0.25, 0.5,
0.75 and 1% by dry weight of soil) using British Standard light com-
paction energy.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Materials
2.1.1. Lateritic soil
The soil sample used for this study was collected from a borrow
pit located at Shika Kaduna State, Nigeria (latitude 11o 150 N and
longitude 7o 450 E), by using the method of disturbed sampling
at 1 m depth from the natural earth surface to avoid organic matter
influence.
2.1.2. Rice husk ash
Rice Husk was gotten from a rice mill while the ash was gotten
from the burning of the Rice Husk under normal atmospheric tem-
perature (open air burning) until the husk turned to ash on a plain
surface in order to avoid impurities.
2.1.3. Sisal fibre
SF was sourced from central market in Kaduna state, Nigeria.
2.2. Methods
2.2.1. Index properties
Index tests were carried out on the natural soil and the treated
soils (in different percentages of RHA with SF length) all according
to BS 1377 (1990) and BS 1924 (1990).
2.2.2. Oxide composition
The oxide composition of RHA was determined at defense
industry cooperation of Nigeria (DICON), Kaduna, Nigeria, using
the method of X-Ray Fluorescence (Nuclear Energy Test).
 J.E. Sani et al. / Journal of King Saud University – Engineering Sciences 32 (2020) 11–18
2.2.3. Compaction test
Compaction tests were carried out on the natural and the trea-
ted soils (in different percentages by dry weight of soil); all accord-
ing to BS 1377 (1990) and BS 1924 (1990), using the BSL energy.
3 kg of the soil/soil-admixtures sample was mixed thoroughly with
8% of water (the water was added at 8% for each of the com-
paction). Soil samples were compacted in 1000 cm3 cylindrical
mould of mass M1; in three layers each layer receiving 27 blows
of 2.5 kg rammer falling through a height of 300 mm. The blows
were uniformly distributed over the surface of each layer during
compaction. The collar was then removed and the compacted sam-
ple leveled off at the top of the mould with a straight edge. The
mould containing the leveled sample was then weighed as M2.
Two small samples were then taken from the compacted soil for
the determination of moisture content. The sample was then
removed from the mould, crushed and water added at (8%) and
the same procedure was repeated until minimum of five set of
samples were taken for moisture content determination. The bulk
densityq in Mg/m3 was calculated for each compacted layer using
Eq. (1):
M  M1
q¼ 2
1000
The dry densityqd was calculated using Eq. (2):
100q
qd ¼
ð100 þ wÞ
where w is the moisture content of each compacted layer.
The values of the dry densities as obtained from Eq. (2) were
plotted against their respective moisture contents. The MDD and
OMC were deduced from the curve.
2.2.4. Unconfined compressive strength test
The UCS tests were performed on the soil samples according to
BS 1377 (1990), for soils compacted with BSL energy. 3 kg of the
natural soil sample/treated soil samples were compacted in
1000 cm3 cylindrical moulds at their respective OMCs. The samples
were extruded from the cylindrical moulds and trimmed into a
cylindrical specimen of 38.1 mm diameter and 76.2 mm length.
The three cylindrical specimens from the mould were cured for
7 days. At the elapsed day of curing, the specimens were then
placed on the lower platen of a compression testing machine and
a compressive force was then applied on the specimen with a
strain control at 0.10% mm. Record was taken simultaneously of
the axial deformation and the axial force at regular interval until
failure of the sample occurs. The UCS of the sample was deter-
mined at the point on the stress–strain curve at which failure
occurred. The UCS was calculated using Eq. (3):
Failure load
UCS ¼
Surface area of specimen
2.2.5. Set up of regression and reliability analysis procedures
Results for all experiments were measured during laboratory
work. Measured soil variables include; UCS as dependent parameter
and MDD, OMC, SF and RHA contents as independent parameters.
Table 1
Input data for reliability based design for five independent variables using FORM 5 from laboratory measured results.
S/N Variables Distribution type
1 Unconfined compressive Strength (UCS) Lognormal
2 Maximum Dry Density (MDD) Lognormal
3 Optimum Moisture Content (OMC) Lognormal
4 Sisal Fibre (SF) Normal
5 Rice Husk Ash (RHA) Normal
13
A regression model was developed using Minitab R15 to predict
the unconfined compressive strength from the measured labora-
tory results. Statistical analysis was carried out on the obtained
results using analysis of variance with the Microsoft Excel Analysis
Tool Pak Software Package. The regression equation developed was
used as a limit state function for the reliability analysis. The regres-
sion model was incorporated into a FORTRAN based program,
FORM 5 to produce the reliability index for each variable, one at
a time within a range of coefficient of variation (COV) between
10 and 100% while the original values for other variables were
allowed to remain constant. The UCS, MDD and OMC values were
assigned lognormal distributions while SF and RHA content were
values were assigned normal distributions. The various data for
the reliability analysis are contained in Table 1.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Index properties of the natural soil
Preliminary geotechnical investigations carried out on the nat-
ural soil showed that the soil had 20.43% moisture at natural state
ð1Þ before air-drying, a free swell value of 20.76%, linear shrinkage of
7.87% and specific gravity of 2.73. The soil belongs to the CL (Lean
Clay) group in the Unified Soil Classification System (ASTM, 1992)
or A-7-6 (10) soil group of the AASHTO soil classification system
ð2Þ (AASHTO, 1986). Results of the natural soil is summarized in
Table 2. The oxide composition of the lateritic soil and rice husk
ash use is shown in Table 3. Fig. 1 shows the particle size distribu-
tion of the natural soil properties of sisal fibre is shown in Table 4.
3.2. Tensile strength test
The plot of tensile strength with number of days (using 3
strands sisal fibre) on the natural and treated SF is shown in
Fig. 2. The untreated SF recorded higher strength than the treated
SF after been buried in lateritic soil for a period of 28 days beyond
which the difference is marginal. The possible reason for the differ-
ences in strength could be due to the removal of the cellulose pre-
sent in the SF by Sodium Borohydride (see Fig. 2). The tensile
strength for the untreated SF decreased from it natural value of
30.60 N/mm2 to 15.57 N/mm2 after 7 days and 5.03 N/mm2 after
90 days. The tensile strength for the treated SF on the other hand
decreased from 27.31 N/mm2 to 13.25 N/mm2 after 7 days and
maintains its steady strength for the next 60 days before it
decreased to a value of 3.15 N/mm2 after 90 days. Result shows
that the SF maintained a steady strength for long time as a result
of treatment with Sodium Borohydride.
3.3. Elongation test
ð3Þ
The plot of elongation of natural and treated SF with number of
days is shown in Fig. 3. Result shows that the treated SF has more
potential to elongate beyond it elastic limit which favours its per-
formance when subjected to axial load. The values recorded for the
treated SF are much higher than that of the untreated SF beyond
28 days. A drastic reduction in elongation was observed at the
Mean Standard deviation Coefficient of variation COV (%)
366.3 161.4 44.06
1.6388 0.0788 4.81
20.660 2.140 10.36
0.5000 0.3608 72.16
4.000 2.887 72.18
14 J.E. Sani et al. / Journal of King Saud University – Engineering Sciences 32 (2020) 11–18

Table 2 18
Properties of the natural soil.
16

Tensile Strength (N/mm2)

Property Quantity 14
Percentage passing BS No 200 sieve, % 57.5 12
Natural Moisture Content, % 20.43
10 Untreated
Liquid Limit, % 48.00
Plastic Limit, % 27.27 8 Treated
Plasticity Index, % 20.73 6
Linear Shrinkage, % 7.87
Free Swell, % 20.76 4
Specific Gravity 2.73 2
AASHTO Classification A-7-6(10) 0 30 60 90
USCS CL
Number days
Maximum Dry Density, Mg/m3 1.85
Optimum Moisture Content, % 18.0
Fig. 2. Variation of tensile strength with days for untreated and treated sisal fibre.
Unconfined Compressive Strength, kN/m2 100
Colour Reddish Brown

10
Table 3 9
Oxide composition of laterite soil and rice husk ash. 8

Elongation (mm)
Oxide Concentration % 7
6
Laterite soil Rice Husk Ash
5 Untreated
SiO2 47.1 74.75 Treated
4
Al2O3 17.40 –
CaO 0.17 3.22 3
K2O 0.48 6.78 2
TiO2 3.69 0.17 1
V2O5 0.070 0.10 0 20 40 60 80 100
Cr2O3 0.035 Number of days
Fe2O3 19.04 2.25
MnO 0.054 1.35 Fig. 3. Variation of elongation with days for untreated and treated sisal fibre.
CuO 0.065 0.035
ZrO 0.966 –
LOI 10.3 –
ZnO – 0.176 initial point of the elongation value up to 28 days but beyond
ZrO2 – 0.022
28 days there was an increase i.e. from 3.02 mm to 4.45 mm for
Na2O – 1.3
P2O5 – 9.45 untreated SF and from 2.28 mm to 6.19 mm for the treated SF.

3.4. Compaction characteristics

100
90 3.4.1. Maximum dry density
80 The plot of MDD of soil-RHA mixtures with SF content using BSL
Percentage passing

70 compactive effort is shown in Fig. 4. Generally, MDD values

60 reduced with higher additive contents due to the presence of SF/
50
RHA particles filling the voids within the soil. MDD values reduced
40
30
from 1.85 mg/m3 for the natural soil to 1.73 mg/m3 at 0% RHA/1%
20 SF content by dry weight of soil. For 2, 4 6 and 8% RHA content
10 by dry weight of soil, MDD reduced from 1.71 to 1.66 mg/m3,
0 1.63 to 1.61 Mg/m3, 1.60 to 1.59 mg/m3 and 1.55 to 1.57 mg/m3
0.01 0.1 1 10
at 1% SF content by dry weight of soil respectively. This reduction
Sieve size (mm)

Fig. 1. Particle size analysis of the natural soil.

1.9
Maximum dry density (Mg/m3)

1.8
Table 4
Properties of the sisal fibre. 0% RHA
1.7
Property Quantity 2% RHA

1.6 4% RHA
Natural Humidity, % 14.48
Average Diameter, mm 0.13 6% RHA
Water Absorption, % 340 1.5 8% RHA
Specific Gravity, g/cm3 0.22
Tensile Strength, N/mm2 1.4
One Strand 10.60 0 0.25 0.5 0.75 1
Two Strands 24.45
Sisal fibre content (%)
Three Strands 30.60
Elongation at Break, mm 5.58
Fig. 4. Variation of maximum dry density of soil-RHA mixtures with sisal fibre
Colour Shiny white
content.
 J.E. Sani et al. / Journal of King Saud University – Engineering Sciences 32 (2020) 11–18 15

Table 5
Two-way analysis of variance results for compaction characteristics of lateritic soil-RHA mixtures with Sisal fibre content.

Properties Source of variation FCAL P-value FCRIT

MDD RHA 30.42918 2.7E-07 3.006917
Sisal fibre 4.96406 0.0085 3.006917
OMC RHA 8.95438 0.00054 3.006917
Sisal fibre 3.47943 0.031595 3.006917

in the MDD is attributed to the RHA having low density when com-
pared to the density of the soil and thus reducing the average unit
weight of the compacted soil solids in the mixture. On the other
hand, as the SF content increased, the scenario makes compaction
difficult because the SF now occupied more spaces than soil was
naturally supposed to, thereby creating some voids in the mix-
tures. As the fibre content increased from 0 to 0.25% by dry weight
of soil, a decrease in MDD was recorded which further decreased as
it increased from 0.25 to 0.5, 0.75 and 1.0% by dry weight of soil.
These trends recorded agree with the findings of Singh (1991)
and Prabakar and Sridhar (2002).
A two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) computed for MDD of
lateritic soil-RHA mixtures with SF content is presented in Table 5.
The results show the influence of RHA and SF on the MDD are sig-
nificant (FCAL = 30.42918 > FCRIT = 3.006917) for RHA and
(FCAL = 4.96406 > FCRIT = 3.006917) for SF. The effect of RHA was
more pronounced than that of SF.
3.4.2. Optimum moisture content (OMC)
The OMC of lateritic soil-RHA mixtures with SF content is
shown in Fig. 5. It was noticed that an increase in RHA and SF con-
tent caused an increase in the OMC values from 18% to 26.5% at 6%
RHA% 1% SF addition by dry weight of soil. Upon further increase in
the SF content, the OMC reduced both for RHA and SF content
increased. This means that the SF, which naturally had a high water
absorption rate, caused an initial increase in OMC from 18% to
26.5% content of the RHA by dry weight of soil and thereafter
reduced the OMC with increasing aspect ratio and percentage con-
tent. This trend of reduction in the OMC after initial increase is
principally associated with the water absorption property of the
SF. Similar trends were observed by Singh (1991); Santhi and
Sayida (2009) who used laterite soils and black cotton soils respec-
tively. On further treatment of the soil with higher RHA content (i.e
4, 6 and 8% RHA) the OMC generally increased (see Fig. 5).
ANOVA analysis for optimum moisture content (see Table 5)
shows that RHA and SF have significant effect on the OMC
(FCAL = 8.95438 > FCRIT = 3.006917) for RHA and (FCAL = 3.47943 > -
FCRIT = 3.006917) for SF, with RHA having a more pronounced
effect.
3.5. Unconfined compressive strength
The unconfined compressive strength (UCS) test was carried out
in order to understand the behaviour of the soil sample under com-
pressive loads and particularly important in establishing the stabi-
lization potential of an additive (Prabakar and Sridhar (2002) and
for subsequent evaluation of the material for use as a pavement
material (Bahrami et al., 2016). The UCS of the natural soil, RHA
and SF mixture was conducted according to standards specified
in BS 1377 (1990) and BS 1924 (1990) after curing for a period of
7 days. The variation of the UCS test resulted from the soil-SF mix-
tures is shown in Fig. 6. The UCS increased from 100.57 kN/m2 for
the natural soil to 139.38 kN/m2 at 0% RHA/0.25% SF content. This
increase trend continued to 696.63 kN/m2 at optimum of 6%
RHA/0.75% SF content by dry weight of soil. Beyond this point,
the value reduced except for 2% RHA/0.75% SF content and 0%
RHA/0.75% SF content by dry weight of soil which increased
slightly. The UCS values increased with RHA and SF content due
to availability of sufficient water that helped in the hydration reac-
tion of RHA to form secondary cementation compounds. Similar
observation was reported by Osinubi and Medubi (1997).
A two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) for UCS of lateritic
soil-RHA mixtures with SF content is summarized in Table 6. The
results show that RHA and SF have significant influence on the
UCS (FCAL = 23.00391 > FCRIT = 3.006917) for RHA and
(FCAL = 20.57560 > FCRIT = 3.006917) for SF. The effect of RHA was
more pronounced than that of SF.
3.6. Regression analysis for unconfined compressive strength
The use of regression models in many geotechnical engineering
applications has been successful (Gadzama et al., 2017, Sani et al.,
2017). The regression model (see Eq. (4)) used for this analysis was
developed from laboratory results and used for predicting UCS
from measured UCS values in the laboratory. Results show that
the effect several independent variables considered (MDD, OMC,
SF and RHA contents) on the UCS of the treated soil were signifi-
cant. The correlation coefficient value (R2) of 85.8% indicate that
there is a strong association between UCS and the independent

800
27
Unconfined compressive strength

700
Optimum moisture content (%)

25 600
0% RHA 0% RHA
500
23
(kN/m2)

2% RHA 2% RHA
400
4% RHA 4% RHA
21 300
6% RHA 6% RHA
200
19 8% RHA 8% RHA
100
17 0
0 0.25 0.5 0.75 1 0 0.25 0.5 0.75 1
Sisal fibre content (%) Sisal fibre content (%)

Fig. 5. Variation of optimum moisture content of the natural soil-RHA mixtures Fig. 6. Variation of unconfined compressive strength of the soil-RHA mixtures with
with sisal fibre content. sisal fibre content.
16 J.E. Sani et al. / Journal of King Saud University – Engineering Sciences 32 (2020) 11–18

Table 6
Two-way analysis of variance results for unconfined compressive strength of lateritic soil-RHA mixtures with Sisal fibre content.

Properties Source of variation FCAL P-value FCRIT

UCS RHA 23.00391 1.81E-06 3.006917
Sisal fibre 20.57560 3.79E-06 3.006917

variables considered. All the independent variables have positive 0.5

coefficients in the regression model which indicate that an increase
0.4
in each of the independent variables will lead to a corresponding
0.3
increase in the UCS values of the treated soil and vice versa. The UCS
0.2

Reliability index
possible explanation to this model entails the need to monitor
0.1 RHA
these independent variables for a SF treated lateritic soil with
RHA as admixture for use as sub-base/base material or for any 0.0 SF
geotechnical application. A plot of predicted UCS values from the -0.1 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 MDD
model plotted against the measured UCS values shows a strong -0.2 OMC
correlation between the UCS values obtained in the laboratory
-0.3
and the predicted values from the regression model using a second
-0.4
order polynomial relationship with approximate correlation coeffi- Coefficient of variation (%)
cient R2 = 0.882 (see Fig. 7).
Fig. 9. Variation of reliability index with coefficient of variation for unconfined
UCS ¼ 944 þ 27:8RHA þ 197SF þ 275MDD þ 31:4OMC ð4Þ compressive strength of sisal fibre treated lateritic soil using rice husk ash as
admixture.
R2 ¼ 85:8%
The standardized coefficient plot showing each of the variables
0.0
used in this analysis at 95% confidence of interval is as shown in
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Fig. 8. The plot shows a graphical contribution of each of the vari-
-0.5
ables in the regression equation on the UCS.
UCS
Reliability index

-1.0 RHA
3.7. Reliability assessment on unconfined compressive strength
SF
-1.5
3.7.1. Influence of unconfined compressive strength on reliability index MDD
The changes in reliability index for UCS of SF treated lateritic -2.0 OMC
soil using RHA as admixture with coefficient of variation in the
-2.5
Coefficient of variation (%)
750
Fig. 10. Variation of reliability index with coefficient of variation for unconfined
y = 3E-05x2 + 0.8577x + 46.111
Predicted UCS values (kN/m2)

650 R² = 0.882 compressive strength of untreated soil.

550
range of 10–100% is shown in Fig. 9. Generally, a trend of decrease
450 in the reliability indices was noticed with increase in the coeffi-
350 cient of variation. The reliability index varied linearly with coeffi-
cient of variation from 10 to 100%. Reliability index changed
250
significantly which indicate that variation in UCS has major effect
150 on the reliability index for road pavement sub-base materials. As
150 250 350 450 550 650 750 coefficient of variation changed from 10 to 100%, reliability index
Measured UCS values (kN/m2) changed from 0.299 to 0.185. The result was computed using
UCS value of 100.57 kN/m2 for the natural soil, reliability index
Fig. 7. Plot of predicted UCS values against measured UCS values from the changed from 1.93 to 1.66 (see Fig. 10). The significant changes
regression model.
observe in the reliability index values buttress the fact that addi-
tion of RHA and SF has major effect on the UCS of the treated soil.
The recorded improvement in strength based on laboratory results
1 can be justified with the significant variations in the reliability
0.8 indices of the treated soil when compared to the untreated soil.
Standardized coefficients

Result shows that RHA and SF improved the geotechnical proper-

0.6 RHA
SF ties of the soil indicated by the changes in their reliability index
OMC
0.4 values and should be carefully controlled during filed compaction
or in any geotechnical application.
0.2 MDD

0 3.7.2. Influence of rice husk ash content on reliability index of

-0.2
unconfined compressive strength
The effect of RHA content on reliability index is shown in Fig. 9.
-0.4 RHA content showed a linear increasing relationship with changes
Variable
in the coefficient of variation, while the reliability index varied
Fig. 8. Standardized coefficients of the variables at 95% confidence. slightly. This result indicate that changes in the content of RHA
 J.E. Sani et al. / Journal of King Saud University – Engineering Sciences 32 (2020) 11–18
has little influence on the reliability index for road sub-base pave-
ment structures. As coefficient of variation increased from 10 to
100%, reliability index values increased from 0.0615 to 0.0488.
The result was further computed with UCS value of 100.57 kN/
m2 for the natural soil, reliability index changed from 1.69 to
1.54 (see Fig. 10).
3.7.3. Influence of sisal fibre content on reliability index of unconfined
compressive strength
The effect of SF content on reliability index is shown in Fig. 9
(with coefficient of variation in the range of 10100%). SF content
showed an increasing correlation with coefficient of variation in
the range 10–100%. A slight variation in the reliability index values
was noticed with increase in the coefficient of variation, this is an
indication that variation of SF content has little or no influence on
the reliability index. As coefficient of variation increased from 10 to
100%, reliability indices varied between 0.0492 and 0.0587. The
result was further computed with UCS value of 100.57 kN/m2 for
the natural soil, reliability index changed from 1.67 to 1.55
(see Fig. 10). Result shows that treated soil produced higher relia-
bility indices than the untreated soil (natural soil) which indicates
improvement on the UCS of the soil with RHA and SF content
(Fig. 10).
3.7.4. Influence of maximum dry density on reliability index of
unconfined compressive strength
Fig. 9 shows the variation of reliability index for MDD of treated
lateritic soil with coefficient of variation. Generally, the reliability
index increased with coefficient of variation from 10 to 100%. Reli-
ability index varied considerably which suggest that variation in
MDD has great influence on the reliability index for road pavement
sub-base materials. For changes in coefficient of variation from 10
to100 %, Reliability indices increased from 0.0625 to 0.401. The
result was further computed with UCS value of 100.57 kN/m2 for
natural soil, reliability index changed from 1.59 to 0.544 (see
Fig. 10). Treated soil produced higher reliability indices than the
natural soil which indicates improvement on the UCS of the soil
with RHA and SF content.
3.7.5. Influence of optimum moisture content on reliability index of
unconfined compressive strength
The variation of reliability index for OMC of lateritic soil – RHA
–SF mixtures is shown in Fig. 9. The reliability index significantly
increased with coefficient of variation. It is evident that changes
in the OMC influenced UCS significantly as clearly shown in the
changes in reliability index. Similar trend was reported by (Sani
et al., 2014) which is an indication that the OMC is a factor which
must be carefully controlled during field compaction for road pave-
ment or any geotechnical studies when lateritic soil – RHA –SF
mixtures are used. When the result was computed with UCS value
of 100.57 kN/m2 for natural soil, reliability index changed from
1.62 to 0.263 (see Fig. 10).
3.8. Comparative sensitivity analysis of the reliability indices of the soil
variables
A comparative sensitivity analysis of the reliability indices of
the laboratory-based model used was compared with the variation
in the independent soil parameters considered (RHA, SF, MDD and
OMC) to determine their effect on UCS. Generally, reliability
indices varied for all the variables considered with MDD and
OMC having more significant effect on the UCS when compared
with RHA and SF. RHA and SF content have marginal effect on
the UCS of the treated soil. From Fig. 9 it could be observed that
the increase in reliability indices was more pronounced for MDD
and OMC which are also related to the UCS of the soil evaluated.
17
Table 7
Stochastic model assessment of acceptable safety index for compaction
characteristics.
S/N Variables Factors Beta Value Acceptable Range of COV (%)
1 UCS 0.299 to 0.185 NIL
2 RHA 0.0488 to 0.0615 NIL
3 SF 0.0492 to 0.0587 NIL
4 MDD 0.0625 to 0.401 NIL
5 OMC 0.0517 to 0.41 NIL
In the case of reliability indices for the untreated soil (see
Fig. 10), low and negative reliability indices were recorded for all
the soil variables considered. Higher reliability indices recorded
for the treated soil depict improvement in the UCS of the soil.
Based on this results, good quality control of these variables is vital
in the field in order to achieve good road pavement.
3.9. Stochastic model assessment of acceptable safety index for
unconfined compressive strength
Results of reliability index obtained for UCS of the soil are
shown in Table 7. NKB Report (1978) categorically stated that a
minimum safety index value of 1.0 is recommended for service-
ability limit state design of structural components.
4. Conclusion
Preliminary investigation was conducted on the lateritic soil.
The natural soil has moisture content of 20.43%, liquid limit of
48%, plastic limit of 27.27% and plasticity index of 20.73%. The lin-
ear shrinkage is 7.87%, free swell of 20.76% with specific gravity of
2.73. MDD decreased from 1.85 mg/m3 for the natural soil to
1.48 mg/m3 at 8% RHA/0.25% SF content by dry weight of soil.
The OMC on the other hand increased from 18% to 26.5% at 6%
RHA%/1% SF content. The UCS increased from 100.57 kN/m2 for
the natural soil to 696.63 kN/m2 at 6% RHA/0.75% SF content by
dry weight of soil. The peak value of the UCS obtained met the reg-
ulatory minimum requirement of 687–1373 kN/m2 for sub-base
material. Reliability indices varied for all the variables considered
with MDD and OMC having more significant effect on the UCS.
An optimum blend of 6% RHA/0.75% SF by dry weight of soil treated
lateritic soils was recorded and is recommended for used as sub-
based material for lightly trafficked road compacted using BSL
compactive effort. Further studies should consider micro analysis
and California bearing ratio test on the soil to further assess their
strength properties.
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