Geomechanics and Engineering

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Improvement in shear strength characteristics of desert sand using shredded plastic waste

  • Kazmi, Zaheer Abbas (Department of Civil & Construction Engineering, College of Engineering, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University)
  • Received : 2020.01.15
  • Accepted : 2020.02.13
  • Published : 2020.03.25
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Abstract

In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the shallower depth of the earth's crust is composed of loose dune or beach sand with soluble salts. The expansive behavior of salt bearing soil, fluctuation of ground water table and extreme environmental conditions offer a variety of geotechnical problems affecting safety and serviceability of the infrastructure built on it. Despite spending money, time and other resources on repair and rehabilitation, no significant attention is paid to explore the root causes of excessive differential settlement and cracking to these facilities. The scientific solution required to ensure safety and serviceability of the constructed infrastructure is to improve the strength and durability properties of the supporting ground. In this study, shredded plastic is employed as a low cost and locally available additive to improve strength characteristics of the desert sand. The study shows a remarkable increase in the shear strength and normal settlement of the soil. A seven (07) degree increase in angle of internal friction is achieved by adding 0.4 percent of the shredded plastic additive. The effect of different proportions and sizes of the plastic strips is also investigated to obtain optimum values. Such a long-lived solution will seek to reduce maintenance and repair costs of the infrastructure facilities laid on problematic soil along with reduction of environmental pollutants.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

Supported by : Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University

The research described in this paper was financially supported by Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University with Project No 2016-437-Eng. The author is highly indebted to the laboratory staff at Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University for their continuous support during laboratory experimental programs.

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