Geotechnical and Geological Engineering

, Volume 31, Issue 1, pp 143–149 | Cite as

Problematic Soft Soil Improvement with Both Polypropylene Fiber and Polyvinyl Acetate Resin

  • Esmaeil Masoumi
  • Seyed Mehdi Abtahi Forooshani
  • Farzad Abdi Nian
Original paper
First Online:
Received:
Accepted:

Abstract

Several methods are used to improve mechanical properties of loose soils including rewetting, soil replacement, compaction control, chemical additives, moisture control, thermal methods, and more recently, discrete fibers. All the methods are applied to soft soil to increase load bearing capacity and to improve other properties such as prevention of erosion and dust generation. In the present study, a new method of soil improvement using both discrete polypropylene (PP) fibers and polyvinyl acetate (PVAc) is introduced. The method is applied to improve load bearing capacity of a problematic sandy soil in both dry and saturated states. Based on the results from CBR tests on various specimens, it has been revealed that the combination of PP fiber and PVAc resin with weight percentages of 0.1 and 0.6 %, respectively, had the optimum effect in increasing the CBR value in both saturated and dry soil specimens. It should be mentioned that this method has caused a great increase in the CBR value in the saturated soil.

Keywords

Soil improvement Polypropylene fiber (PP) Polyvinyl acetate resin (PVAc) 
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

References

  1. Abtahi SM, Alaie H, Hejazi SM (2009) Soil stabilization using new chemical materials. In: 8th international congress on civil engineering, Shiraz, IranGoogle Scholar
  2. Basha EA, Hashim R, Mahmud HB, Muntobar AS (2005) Stabilization of residual soil with rice husk ash and cement. Constr Build Mater 19(6):448–453CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  3. Consoli NC, Vendruscolo MA, Fonini A, Rosa FD (2009) Fiber reinforcement effects on sand considering a wide cementation range. Geotext Geomembr 27(3):196–203CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  4. Freilich J, Li C, Zornberg G (2010) Effective shear strength of fiber-reinforced clays. In: 9th international conference on geosyn, BrazilGoogle Scholar
  5. Hongu T, Philips G (1990) New fibers. Ellis horwood series in polymeric science and technology, New YorkGoogle Scholar
  6. Ismail MA, Joer HA, Sim WH, Randolph M (2002) Effect of cement type on shear behavior of cemented calcareous soil. J Geotech Geoenviron Eng 128(6):520–529CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  7. Kazemian S, Barghchi M (2010) Review of soft soils stabilization by grouting and injection methods with different chemical binders. Scientific Research and Essays, vol 7 (24), pp 2104–2111, 28 June 2012. ISSN 1992-2248Google Scholar
  8. Khattak J, Alrashidi M (2006) Durability and mechanistic characteristics of fiber reinforced soil–cement mixtures. Int J Pav Eng 7:53–62CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  9. Kumar A, Walia B, Mohan J (2006) Compressive strength of fiber reinforced highly compressible clay. Constr Build Mater 20:1063–1068CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  10. Maher H, Gray H (1990) Static response of sand reinforced with randomly distributed fibers. J Geotech Eng ASCE 116:1661–1677CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  11. Marandi M, Bagheripour H, Rahgozar R, Zare H (2008) Strength and ductility of randomly distributed palm fibers reinforced silty-sand soils. Am J Appl Sci 5:209–220CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  12. Marsh JT (1942) An introduction to the chemistry of cellulose. Publication of United States institute for textile research, vol 11Google Scholar
  13. Park SS (2008) Effect of fiber reinforcement and distribution on unconfined compressive strength of fiber-reinforced cemented sand. Geotext Geomembr 27(2):162–166CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  14. Puppala J, Musenda C (2000) Effects of fiber reinforcement on strength and volume change behavior of expansive soils. Trans res boa. In: 79th annual meeting, Washington, USAGoogle Scholar
  15. Rangkupan RH, Reneker D (2003) Electrospinning process of molten polypropylene in vacuum. J Met Mater Miner 12(2):81–87Google Scholar
  16. Tang C, Shi B, Chen W (2006) Strength and mechanical behavior of short polypropylene fiber reinforced and cement stabilized clayey soil. Geotext Geomembr 24:1–9CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  17. Tang CS, Shi B, Zhao LZ (2010) Interfacial shear strength of fiber reinforced soil. Geotext Geomembr 28:54–62CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  18. Tolleson AR, Shantawi FM, Harman NE, Mahdavian E (2003) An evaluation of strength change on subgrade stabilized with an enzyme catalyst solution using CBR and SSG comparisons. Final report to university Transportation Center Grant, USAGoogle Scholar
  19. Vasudev D (2007) Performance studies on rigid pavement sections built on stabilized sulfate soils. MSc thesis, University of Texas at ArlingtonGoogle Scholar
  20. Yetimoglu T, Salbas O (2003) A study on shear strength of sands reinforced with randomly distributed discrete fibers. Geotext Geomembr 21:103–110CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  21. Yetimoglu T, Inanir M, Inanir E (2005) A study on bearing capacity of randomly distributed fiber-reinforced sand fills overlying soft clay. Geotext Geomembr 23:174–183CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2012

Authors and Affiliations

  • Esmaeil Masoumi
    • 1
  • Seyed Mehdi Abtahi Forooshani
    • 2
  • Farzad Abdi Nian
    • 2
  1. 1.Department of Civil EngineeringIslamic Azad University, Dehagh BranchIsfahanIran
  2. 2.Department of Civil EngineeringIsfahan University of Technology (IUT)IsfahanIran

Personalised recommendations