An experimental study on early age compression and shear strength properties of mixed clay soil

Clay mixed soil is a combination of clay and soil components that may be used as the core of earth dams and the foundation for building and road construction. Up until now, significant research work has been carried out to design cement-based clay materials; however, only a couple of studies have been reported in the literature on earth-based materials. The methodology portion provides an overview of the different materials, tools, and protocols used during work to develop ways to earth-based materials and study their early age compression strength along with their shear strength. Finally, it summarizes all the results and the outcome of the experimental work done. The probability of producing an object using earth-based material was examined. Improvement in the compressive strength in the early age of strength by adding additives like bentonite and rice husk was assessed in this study. Three clayey soil samples were investigated. The undrained shear strength based on an unconfined compression test (UCT) over those samples was measured by varying the moisture content (MC). After performing all these tests, a relationship was developed between the UCT and vane shear test (VST) undrained shear strengths of the selected soil samples. Clay samples with different mix designs were investigated, and building components were printed out to check the early age shear strength development and printable properties of different mix designs. This study will lay the foundation for further research on different aspects relating to the emerging technology of 3D clay printing in Pakistan.