Laboratory Evaluation of CBR Values in Geopet-Reinforced Sandy Soils: Modeling with the RSM Method

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

1 Shahrood university of technology

2 Amirkabir university of technology

3 Geotechnical engineering, Civil, water and environment, Shahid Beheshti, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

The increasing production of solid waste has become an international concern for engineers. One effective approach to addressing this issue is the reuse of solid waste for the improvement of construction sites and loose soils. Among the methods of soil reinforcement or stabilization is the use of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and fly ash (FA), both of which are derived from industrial and urban waste. In this study, the California Bearing Ratio (CBR) test was conducted on both unreinforced and reinforced sands from Bandar Anzali, using Geopet with mesh sizes of 1×1, 2×2, and 3×3 cm. The sands were also stabilized with fly ash at weight percentages of 5%, 10%, and 15%, with sodium hydroxide as a fly ash activator. Additionally, in the current analysis, the Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was employed to determine the significant relationships between the percentage of fly ash, Geopet layers, and their interactions on CBR. Ultimately, RSM was used to evaluate CBR in a consistent and efficient manner in this study. The P-value in the applied model is less than 0.0001, indicating the model’s effectiveness. The results show that the optimal scenario involves the use of Geopet with a mesh size of 1×1 cm combined with 15% fly ash, in which the CBR value increased by 2.7 times compared to the unreinforced condition.

Keywords

Main Subjects


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