Effect of Liquid Polymer on Properties of Fine-Grained Soils

Abstract

 One of the most useful methods for improving engineering characteristics of soils is soil stabilization by chemical additives like cement, lime and polymer materials. Since polymeric additives are easier to handle, they have been used widely in geotechnical projects in recent years. The current practice is to evaluate the effect of CBR-Plus polymer on the physical and mechanical properties of fine-grained soils. For this purpose, CBR-Plus polymer was mixed with two high plasticity fine-grained soils and Atterberg limits, compaction and consolidated undrained (CU) triaxial tests were carried out on the compacted mixture in the laboratory. Interpretation of the results using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images were carried out. Results show that CBR-Plus has insignificant effect on plasticity index and compaction characteristics of soils. Some amount of CBR-Plus additives lead to increase in shear strength of specimens. In fact, depending on the type of the soil, there is an optimum amount for this polymeric material in which the shear strength increases.