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Performance of Treated Date Palm Leaf Fiber as a Sustainable Reinforcement for Different Soil Al-Hassnawi, Noor S.; Azmi, Mastura; Fattah, Mohammed Y.; Ahmad, Fauziah
Civil Engineering Journal Vol 10, No 10 (2024): October
Publisher : Salehan Institute of Higher Education

Show Abstract | Download Original | Original Source | Check in Google Scholar | DOI: 10.28991/CEJ-2024-010-10-018

Abstract

The use of sustainable materials in geotechnical applications has increased in recent years due to their positive impacts on geo-environmental and future generations. This paper contributes to existing knowledge on geocell reinforcement of soil by proposing a new inexpensive product: cells made from natural materials, Date Palm Leaf fiber coated with Bitumen (DPLB), to improve its durability, as an alternative to commercially available high-density polyethylene (HDPE) geocells. A physical laboratory model was designed to examine the performance of the DPLB cell and HDPE cell reinforced base layer under repeated loading. The study tested different infill materials gravel, sand, and recycled asphalt pavement (RAP) in DPLB cells and HDPLE geocell-reinforced granular layers and compared them to unreinforced layers. The reinforcement's performance was assessed using elastic deformation, permanent deformation, traffic benefit ratio, and rut depth reduction. Results showed that both DPLB cell and geocell reinforced sand decreased the cumulative permanent deformations compared to the unreinforced layer. DPLB reinforcement cells improved the permanent deformation behavior by 30% due to the lateral restriction provided by the DPLB pockets on the infill materials, while the geocell improved it by 7%. The traffic benefit ratio (TBR) of geocell-reinforced RAP is 26% greater than that of the DPLB cell-reinforced RAP section, although both geocell and DPLB cell exhibited similar TBR values in the case of gravel infill materials. The experimental results showed that DPLB cells are a cost-effective and environmentally friendly substitute for commercially available HDPE geocells in soil reinforcement applications. Doi: 10.28991/CEJ-2024-010-10-018 Full Text: PDF
Leaching-Permeability Behavior of Collapsible Gypseous Soils Treated with Nano-Titanium Dioxide Jassim, Najwa W.; Azmi, Mastura; Fattah, Mohammed Y.
Civil Engineering Journal Vol. 11 No. 10 (2025): October
Publisher : Salehan Institute of Higher Education

Show Abstract | Download Original | Original Source | Check in Google Scholar | DOI: 10.28991/CEJ-2025-011-10-06

Abstract

As a result of the limited studies that have been conducted on the utilization of nano titanium dioxide as a nanomaterial for stabilizing gypseous soils in geotechnical works, this study is directed to predict the changes in the coefficient of permeability k, the leaching strain, the total dissolved salts TDS, and the pH values with the changes in the percentages of nano titanium dioxide NTD. The gypseous soil samples were obtained from three sites located north of Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, with different gypsum contents of about 34%, 50%, and 60%. Tests have identified the mechanical and physical characteristics of the studied gypseous soils. In addition, oedometer permeability leaching tests were conducted using an oedometer cell apparatus. The results of the tested gypseous soils presented a significant effect of NTD on reducing the coefficient of permeability k and cost-effectively, especially at 0.3 and 0.5% for the three tested soils. For S1 tested soil, the reduction percentages of the k values were 79.02% and 80.0% when treated with 0.3% and 0.5% of NTD, respectively. While for S2 tested gypseous soil, the reduction percentages were 75.9% and 79.1%, and 66.04% and 73.6% for S3 tested gypseous soil when treated with 0.3% and 0.5% of NTD, respectively. The treated gypseous soils are exposed to less gypsum dissolution, as the NTD material forms an impermeable layer to prevent direct contact between water and gypsum. This reduces gypsum dissolution and, thus, reduces leaching strain. For S1 tested soil, the percentage of reduction of the leaching strain was 90.5%, while for S2 and S3 tested soils, it was 91.2% and 89.9%, respectively, when 0.3% of NTD was applied. As the percentage of the NTD increased for S1, S2, and S3, the pH values decreased due to decreased TDS in the leached water, and it is clear that 0.3% of NTD gives a reliable pH value for the three tested soils. Considering these results, it appears that even small amounts of nano titanium dioxide have the potential to be an effective agent for reducing permeability and stabilizing collapsible gypseous soils in civil engineering projects, compared with other nano or traditional materials.