The efect of randomly distributed natural fbers on some geotechnical characteristics of a lateritic soil
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Date
2021-05-17
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SN Applied Sciences
Abstract
Weak lateritic subgrades are more often than not encountered during road construction in Ghana. This makes it necessary to fnd economically efcient ways to improve the engineering properties of these marginal lateritic soils. The
objective of this study is to investigate the efects of coconut fber (30 mm, 60 mm and 90 mm fber lengths) and palm
fber on some geotechnical characteristics of a weak lateritic subgrade. The lateritic soil was collected from the KNUST
campus and blended with various percentages of the fbers varying between 0.1 and 1.0% by weight of dry soil. The
mixed materials were then subjected to various laboratory tests including compaction, unconfned compression test and
4-day-soaked California bearing ratio test. From the results, it was observed that increasing the fber content decreased
the maximum dry density and increased the optimum moisture content. The inclusion of the fber increased the soaked
CBR from 7 to a maximum of 18, 22, and 25 at 30 mm, 60 mm and 90 mm fber lengths, respectively. The unconfned
compressive strength also increased from 140 to a maximum of 353 kPa, 398 kPa and 447 kPa, respectively, for 30 mm,
60 mm and 90 mm fber lengths. Similarly, palm fber inclusion recorded maximum soaked CBR value of 14% and UCS
value of 352 kPa. These peak values were obtained at optimum fber contents of 0.2%.
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Citation
Lawer, A. K, Ampadu, S.I.K, Owusu-Nimo, F. (2021). The effect of randomly distributed fibers on some geotechnical characteristics of lateritic soils. SN Applied Sciences, 3 (6).