Feasibility of Strengthening Sandy Soils Using Industry Waste as Geo-Fiber

Abstract

Re-using waste generated from daily domestic usage to improve weak soils such as dune sand gives a profitable solution to both environment and the construction sector. In this paper, weak sandy soil was modified with two types of fibers derived from daily domestic use. Plastic bottle waste fiber and tainted polypropylene sediment filter fiber were embedded in the sandy soil with a rate of (0.5%,1%,1.5%, and 2%) by weight of dry soil. Toward this, the direct shear test was conducted to confirm the optimum fiber content and evaluate other parameters such as shear strength, normalized ultimate shear strength, angle of internal friction, and adhesion. The results showed that the 1.5% fiber content showed higher values of angle of internal friction and the normalized ultimate shear strength for both types of fibers. The reinforcement with plastic bottle waste fiber and tainted polypropylene sediment filter fiber enhanced the shear strength parameters and normalized ultimate shear strength. Significant improvement was noticed in the adhesion value with the addition of 2% of tainted polypropylene sediment filter fiber. finally, the effect of fiber addition on the Mohr-coulomb failure envelope was discussed.