Effect of Cement, Plastic Waste, and their Combinations on the Geotechnical Properties of Soft Clay Soil
Received: 7 February 2025 | Revised: 8 March 2025 and 19 March 2025 | Accepted: 23 March 2025 | Online: 4 June 2025
Corresponding author: Rania Hayder Fadhil
Abstract
This study investigates soft clay soil stabilization by deploying eco-friendly, inexpensive techniques and incorporating small additions of cement and recycled Plastic Waste (PW). Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) was used as a chemical stabilizer in quantities not exceeding 2% of dry weight of soil, which was found to be the most effective dosage. Recycled Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) from discarded water bottles was utilized in different fractions (1%, 1.5%, 2%, and 2.5%) to fulfill this growing environmental concern. The former can be used as a soil augmentation material. A combined treatment was also studied, which involved combining the optimal 2% cement with various percentages of shredded PW. The results indicated that there were very significant improvement marks on the geotechnical properties of treated soil. The greatest UCS enhancement of 247.77% was recorded at 2.5% PW. A UCS improvement was additionally achieved when combining 2% cement with 1% PW compared to the application of cement alone. This combination exhibited the best performance regarding compressibility, having reduced the compression index (Cc) by 65.38%. The technology proposed in this work, which involves using recycled and small percentages of cement in soil stabilization to establish environmental sustainability and improved engineering performance, has been proven efficient.
Keywords:
soft clay soil, plastic waste, ordinary Portland cement, shear strength, compressibilityDownloads
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Copyright (c) 2025 Rania Hayder Fadhil, Balqees A. Ahmed
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