Geotechnical Behavior of Construction Waste (CW) as a Partial Replacement of a Lateritic Soil in Fiber-Reinforced Cement Mixtures

• Published in: Geotechnical and geological engineering Vol. 39; no. 2; pp. 919 - 942
• Main Authors: Lukiantchuki, Juliana Azoia, de Oliveira, José Renato Moreira da Silva, de Almeida, Márcio de Souza Soares, dos Reis, Jeselay Hemetério Cordeiro, Silva, Tiago Betinardi, Guideli, Leandro Canezin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01.02.2021; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Cement; Cement reinforcements; Civil Engineering; Compressive strength; Concrete; Construction; Construction industry wastes; Construction materials; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Fiber reinforced cements; Fiber reinforced polymers; Fibers; Geotechnical Engineering & Applied Earth Sciences; Hydrogeology; Laboratory tests; Original Paper; Polypropylene; Portland cement; Portland cements; Reinforced cements; Shear strength; Soil; Soil mixtures; Soil testing; Soils; Tensile strength; Terrestrial Pollution; Waste Management/Waste Technology; Natural soil; Geotechnical applications; Construction waste; Cement; Polypropylene fiber
• ISSN: 0960-3182; 1573-1529
• DOI: 10.1007/s10706-020-01533-w

It is increasingly important to find solutions for the problem of construction waste (CW) which is generated in high quantities and is often disposed of irregularly. The reuse of this material in large scale projects, such as base and sub-base layers for road pavements, can lead to long term environmental benefits. This paper describes the novel use of CW to partially replace a lateritic natural soil in fiber-reinforced cement mixtures. In addition to the CW, Portland cement and polypropylene fibers were added to the natural soil as a percentage of its dry mass. The geotechnical characterization, unconfined compressive strength, tensile strength, direct shear strength, permanent strain and resilient modulus were used to the evaluate the effect of polypropylene fiber and Portland cement on the behavior of the soil–CW mixtures. Laboratory test results indicate that the partial replacement of soil with CW and the addition of 0.1% of 50 mm long polypropylene fiber to soil–CW mixtures produces a viable alternative material for geotechnical applications, with better performance than natural soil alone.