Compressibility and shearing behavior of clayey soil reinforced by plastic waste

The main objective of this study is to analyze the use of plastic waste materials for the reinforcement of clayey soils. an experimental study was conducted to investigate the compressibility and undrained shear behavior of clayey soil mixed with plastic waste. clayey soil was mixed with various amounts of plastic waste (i.e.; 0,0.5,1.0,1.5 and 3.0 % in dry weight) and soil compaction,consolidated undrained triaxial and oedometer consolidation tests were performed on the mixtures to study the effects of plastic waste,plastic flexibility,confining pressure and initial density on clayey soil behavior. according to the results,plastic wastes do not affect the compaction characteristics of clayey soil considerably. the addition of plastic wastes that exceed a specific value (i.e.,1.0 % in this research) changes the undrained behavior of samples from contractive to dilative. the addition of plastic wastes beyond 1.0 % improves shear strength and reduces compressibility of the clay. increasing rate in shear strength and decreasing rate in compressibility depends on the confining pressure,flexibility of plastic and the initial density of the samples. the rate of increasing or decreasing is more noticeable when plastic rigidity,initial density and confining pressures are relatively high. moreover,plastic waste has negative effects on the free swelling,swelling pressure and swelling index of samples; such parameters are therefore higher in plastic waste mixed clay than the associated values of plain clay. © iran university of science and technology 2016.