Influence of Waste Polypropylene Fibers on Resilient Modulus of Clay Soil

Abstract

Soil is the foundation material which supports the loads from the overlying structure. Many times, soil beneath the structure has weak geotechnical properties, which affects the stability of soil and hence failure of the structure occurs in the form of settlements and cracks. So it is advisable to improve the properties of weak soil by soil reinforcement or soil stabilization. Also the industrial wastes are major threats across the globe for the environment due to its disposal problem and plastic waste is one of them. In the present study, therefore we have investigated the influence of waste polypropylene fibers on the resilient modulus ofclay soil. Under this investigation, several cyclic CBR tests were performed on soil specimens by reinforcing the clay soil with polypropylene fibers which were added in different percentages i.e. 0.3%, 0.4%, 0.5%, 0.6% by weight of soil. The outcomes show that the experimented technique is very effective to improve the resilient modulus of clay soil. It is found that for the best results, optimum percentage of waste polypropylene fibers to be added is 0.4 % by weight of soil. Finally, it has been concluded that reinforcing the clay soil with polypropylene fibers provides positive influence on resilient modulus of the soil.