Shrinkage behavior of peat – polymer mixtures

Abstract

Peat soil is a challenging soil with brownish-black in color, consist of high decomposed organic material, high moisture content (>100%), high compressibility (0.9-1.5), low shear strength (5-20 kPa) and high organic matter (>75%). Peat with high moisture experienced it’s highest decreased of moisture when dried. With the larger shrinkage capacity, the fibrous peat are able to reduce the volume up to 50% following air drying. The objective of this study is to identify the shrinkage behavior of original peat and stabilized peat by using Vinyl Acetate – Acrylic Copolymer (VAAC). In this study, a laboratory investigation was conducted by using bar linear shrinkage and cylindrical sample measurement. This polymer can be used to increase the strength of soil and also able to fill the pore medium thus create water proof surface upon drying. Hence the moisture loss can be control and the shrinkage can be reduced. Results show that the value of original peat shrinkage is 26.17% and 28% for bar linear shrinkage method and cylindrical sample measurement method respectively. After added VAAC mixtures, the shrinkage reduce up to 9% and 12% for both method. Hence, this VAAC polymer can be concluded as a good agent to control the shrinkage problems.