Strength and Deformation Properties of Fiber and Cement Reinforced Heavy Metal-Contaminated Synthetic Soils

Heavy metals are not only hazardous to environment and public health, but they degrade the physicochemical and biological properties of soils increasing difficulty to the redevelopment of contaminated sites. This study proposes a method for reinforcing contaminated soils with fiber and cement. The f...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Qiang Tang, Peixin Shi, Yu Zhang, Wei Liu, Lei Chen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Hindawi Limited 2019-01-01
Series:Advances in Materials Science and Engineering
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2019/5746315
Description
Summary:Heavy metals are not only hazardous to environment and public health, but they degrade the physicochemical and biological properties of soils increasing difficulty to the redevelopment of contaminated sites. This study proposes a method for reinforcing contaminated soils with fiber and cement. The feasibility of using wheat straw as fiber reinforcement is discussed. The strength of heavy metal-contaminated soil reinforced with wheat straw and cement is investigated through laboratory testing. Twelve groups of soil samples were prepared at three fiber contents (i.e., 0.1%, 0.2%, and 0.3% by weight), three water contents (i.e., 9%, 12%, and 15%), and three cement contents (i.e., 5%, 7.5%, and 10% by weight). Unconfined compression strength (UCS) was tested after 28 days of curing period and various freeze-thaw cycles. The testing results show that the increase in the number of freeze-thaw cycles results in the decrease of UCS. The inclusion of fiber reinforcement within cemented soil causes an increase in the UCS and changes the brittle behavior of cemented soil to a more ductile one. The UCS of the fiber-reinforced soils first increases, then decreases with the increase of water content, and reaches the maximum value at the optimum moisture content.
ISSN:1687-8434
1687-8442