Optimization of consistency limits and plasticity index of fine-grained soils modified with polypropylene fibers and additive materials

Abstract

It is a well-known fact that water content has a significant effect on the engineering properties of fine-grained soils. There is a close relationship between consistency limits and geotechnical parameters of fine-grained soils. This experimental study was performed to investigate the effect of randomly distributed polypropylene fibers (PP) and some additive materials [e.g., Borogypsum (BG), Fly Ash (FA) and Cement (C)] on consistency limits and plasticity index of a fine-grained soil. The Taguchi method was applied to the experiments and standard L9 Orthogonal Array (OA) with four factors and three levels were chosen. A series of consistency limits were conducted on each specimen. 0-20% BG, 0-20% FA, 0-0.25% PP and 0-3% of C by total dry weight of mixture were used in the preparation of specimens. In the tests, distilled water (DW), DW + 0.05% Air-Entrainer (AE) and DW + 0.15% AE were used as mixture liquid. Experimental results showed that the most effective material for decreasing the liquid limit and plasticity index of the samples were fly ash, polypropylene fiber respectively. The plasticity index decreased with increasing of AE. The values of plasticity index for distilled water, distilled water + 0.05% air-entrainer and distilled water + 0.15% air-entrainer in optimum conditions were 16%, 14% and 8%, respectively.

Study of the Mechanical Behaviour of a Clayey Soil Under Normal and Frozen Conditions

“…Elastic behaviour was also found to be better than the reference mix for 28-day cured specimens (Tilak et al, 2015). Among 3mm, 6mm and 12mm sized PPF in a range of 0.25%; 12-mm-sized fibers produced satisfactorily results after 10 FT cycles (Zaimoglu et al, 2016). The behaviour of the soil was found to be improved under normal conditions, but the present study also reviewed some research under extreme temperature conditions too.…”

“…The optimum condition corresponds to a higher S/N ratio from the response graph. For more details on the Taguchi technique, see Phadke (1989); Logothetis (1992); Roy (2001); Zaimoglu (2015 a, b ) and Zaimoglu et al (2016).…”

Effect of Polypropylene Fiber on the Flexural Strength Properties of Lightweight Foam Mixed Soil

“…In this study, soft clay classified as CH in the Unified Soil Classification System (USCS) from the campus of King Mongkut's University of Technology onburi, ailand, was used in all tests. e fiber material used in the present study was polypropylene fiber, which is widely employed in fiber-reinforced cemented soil [24,25,[31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38]. e polypropylene fiber was prepared with a length of 58 mm at three different volume fractions: 0.5%, 0.75%, and 1%.…”

Unconfined Compressive Properties of Fiber-Stabilized Coastal Cement Clay Subjected to Freeze–Thaw Cycles

“…Recently, researchers have investigated some additives to improve the engineering performance of cement-treated clay, such as magnesium slag [22], waste tire rubber fibers [23], nano-MgO [24,25], as well as Pozzolanic [26]. On the other hand, fiber has been widely used in clay reinforcement due to its high strength, desirable frost and acid resistance, and reasonable water absorption and dispersion characteristics [27][28][29][30][31]. Previous studies show that the addition of fiber, such as polypropylene fiber (PPF), can effectively reduce the generation and diffusion of cracks in lime-stabilized clay [32], lime mortar [33], fly-ash-based geopolymer composites [34], cement-stabilized clay [35][36][37], which is an effective method for improving the frost resistance.…”