Enhancing the Mechanical Properties of Polymer-Stabilized Rammed Earth Construction

Abstract

This paper investigates the viability of using a commercially available liquid polymer (LP) in lieu of ordinary cement to stabilize soil during rammed earth (RE) construction. The scope of this study includes modifying and testing the locally available natural soil with two different LPs at various percentages. Once the optimum moisture content (OMC) of the soil with LPs was determined using the Proctor test, test samples were prepared by chemical and mechanical stabilizations. Following the curing process in an unconfined open-air laboratory environment for 7 days, soil samples were tested to determine the unconfined compressive strength (UCS) and California bearing ratio (CBR) values. The results demonstrate that the lubrication effect of polymers is different than that of water. The first polymer type yields a lower OMC compared to water, while the second polymer achieves a higher OMC. The CBR and UCS values of polymer-stabilized soils are improved for both polymer types at all dosages. The CBR values of polymer-modified soils showed as high as a 10-times improvement compared to Portland cement (PC) stabilization. A similar trend is observed for the UCS results as well. The UCS value of polymer-stabilized soils reached over 1900 psi (13 MPa), which was over 3-times higher than the UCS of PC-stabilized soil.