Characteristic Properties of Bentonite Clay and use of Nanomaterials in Stabilizing its Expansive Behavior

This paper represents the study done on expansive soil, i. e. , Bentonite Clay to study and improve its shrinkage and swelling properties using the nanomaterial. The expansion and shrinkage tests were conducted to study the effect of TerraSil (nanomaterial) on the soil when mixed with different percentages of nanomaterial. The soil samples were compacted at optimum moisture content and maximum dry density as obtained from the Standard Proctor Test. The results of various tests were compared of the specimens with and without nanomaterial. The results show that on adding the nanomaterial in optimum percentage to the soil sample, the compressive strength of the sample improves, and the desiccation crack density reduces.