ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Built Environ.
Sec. Construction Materials
This article is part of the Research TopicEco-Friendly Materials for a Sustainable Built EnvironmentView all articles
MECHANICAL AND MICROSTRUCTURAL EVALUATION OF A LIME-WHEAT HUSK ASH BLEND FOR CLAY SUBGRADE STABILIZATION
Provisionally accepted
Amos Adesoji Adekanle1Emmanuel Akintunde Okunade1
Benjamin Ayowole Alo1
Temitope Funmilayo Awolusi2*
Firas Barraj3
Azab Marc4- 1Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti, Nigeria
- 2Bamidele Olumilua University of Education Science & Technology, Ikere, Nigeria
- 3University of Balamand, Balamand, Lebanon
- 4American University of the Middle East, Kuwait City, Kuwait
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Abstract Stabilizing agents such as lime and agricultural waste offer a cost-effective, environmentally friendly solution to the poor geotechnical properties of clay soils. This study explores the stabilization of clay subgrade soil using wheat husk ash (WHA) and lime. An X-ray fluorescence test was conducted on the WHA and the clay soil to determine their oxide composition. The soil was stabilized using different combinations of lime and WHA. Various soil tests, including Atterberg limits, compaction, unconfined compressive strength (UCS), and microstructural analysis using SEM-EDS, were conducted on different lime-WHA-soil mixtures to assess the engineering behaviour of stabilized soil. The natural soil plasticity index (PI) of 25.34% showed that the soil needs improvement to be suitable for road application. The soil's oxide composition was laterite with a silica/ sesquioxides value within 1.33 and 2.00. The WHA played the role of an additive in the stabilization process with the summation of oxide composition of Fe2O3, Al2O3 and SiO2 less than 70%. The maximum dry density (MDD) of the stabilized soil ranged from 1603 to 1798 kg/m3, while the optimum moisture content (OMC) ranged from 13.7 to 20.2 %. There was a general improvement in MDD, particularly at 7 % Lime + 1 % WHA, 6 % Lime + 2 % WHA, and 5 % Lime + 3 % WHA with MDD values ≥1700 kg/m3. An improvement in UCS for all stabilized soils was achieved, and the combination of 7% Lime + 1% WHA had the highest value of 291.71 kN/m2. The microstructural evaluation provides evidence of improved geotechnical properties of the clay soil, particularly in UCS. Generally, the stabilization process provided significant improvements in plasticity, MDD, and UCS, and is recommended for highway subgrade and subbase materials.
Keywords: clay, Compaction behaviour, Lime, Unconfined compressive strength, Wheat husk ash
Received: 15 Dec 2025; Accepted: 26 Jan 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Adekanle, Okunade, Alo, Awolusi, Barraj and Marc. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Temitope Funmilayo Awolusi
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