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Remya - Soil Stabilization Using Polymer Infused Roots
Remya - Soil Stabilization Using Polymer Infused Roots
Remya - Soil Stabilization Using Polymer Infused Roots
A SEMINAR REPORT
Submitted by
REMYA MOHAN
of
Guided by
SEPTEMBER 2014
Toc H INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
ARAKKUNNAM, ERNAKULAM-682 313
DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING
CERTIFICATE
TIST TIST
i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This seminar work is the product of hard work and experience and it goes a long
way in shaping a person in his respective profession. If words can be considered as
token of acknowledgement and symbols of love, then these words play a vital role in
expressing my gratitude. First of all, Im thankful to God Almighty, for his
choicest blessings for the successful completion of my seminar.
Last but not the least; Im grateful to all my friends and parents for their
valuable motivation and support.
REMYA MOHAN
S7, CE
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ABSTRACT
iii
LIST OF FIGURES
iv
CONTENTS
CERTIFICATE i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ii
ABSTRACT iii
LIST OF FIGURES iv
1. INTRODUCTION 1
3. EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATIONS 4
3.2.1. Infusions 6
3.3.1. Infusions 9
5. CONCLUSION 12
REFERENCE 13
1. INTRODUCTION
Soil stabilization can be improved by using polymer infused roots that are
derived from infusing roots with polymers through the above grade stem to form a
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polymer root composite material. This method can be an important alternative for the
surficial soil improvement to prevent erosion, to reduce edge cracking of pavements,
stabilize subgrades, or even to construct unpaved roadways.
Two plant types are tested, namely, Ruellia squarrosa and Artemisia annua.
The local names of these plants were Ruellia and Sweet worm wood respectively. The
life period of Ruellia squrrosa were about 1-2 years and for Artemisia annua is 7-8
months. These plant types are selected because they have large stem diameters
(greater than 3 mm) that are suitable for infusions and they can withstand the
mechanical stress without breakage of root during infusion tubing attachment and
polymer pressurization. These plants can be cut at the stems to provide a single stem
for infusion. Single stem was preferred for infusions because infusion occurring
through one stem of multi stem plants tends to pressurize the other stem and cause
polymer to leak from other stems in lieu of polymer permeating through the roots as
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desired. Figure 2.1 and figure 2.2 shows the pictures of Artemisia annua plant and
Ruellia squarrosa plant.
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3. EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATIONS
Vane shear test was performed in non-compacted soil beds(field test) for
Ruellia squarrosa plant. For the testing 16 infused and 16 non infused plants are
selected. According to laboratory tests, the liquid limit and plasticity index of the soil
were 66 and 19 respectively. The soil contains 77% fines and is classified as elastic
silt in accordance with the unified soil classification system. A hand held vane with
cross-blades of dimension 20 4mm (diameter times length) was inserted to a depth
of 80mm to measure peak in situ shear strength for the eld vane test. The vane was
capable of a measurement range of 0130 kPa with a manufacturer-reported accuracy
of 10%. One vane shear test was performed for each plant, which resulted in 16 tests
for infused and 16 tests for noninfused roots.
Vane shear testing are also conducted in 14 compacted soil cylinders. Of the
14 cylinders, 8 were planted with Artemisia annua and 6 were not planted to serve
as soil only control. The soil has a liquid limit and plasticity index of 44 and 24
respectievly, and contains 83% fines which is classified as low-plasticity clay (CL)
according to unified soil classification system. Soil samples were compacted in 225
mm long, 100 mm internal diameter cylinders. Samples were compacted to a wet
density of 16.7 KN/m3 at a predetermined moisture content of 33% to a height of 200
mm, leaving 25 mm of freeboard for watering. The achieved compaction was
approximately 80% based on the modified proctor test, and graph is shown in
Figure.3.1. The low compacted density was chosen to provide adequate growth
conditions for the plants. After 4 months of growth, all 8 plants were severed at their
stem and 4 of the plants were infused to create polymer infused roots. The cylinders
were then aged naturally in outdoor condition. After aging, the 4 polymer infused root
soil cylinders, 4 root cylinders, and 6 soil cylinders were submerged under tap water
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for 2 days, removed from water, and then subjected to vane shear testing. The vane
was inserted 25 mm from the stems. And the testing was conducted.
The potential of polymer-infused roots for use in soil stabilization also was
assessed through split-tension measurements in Artemisia annua plant . Soil was the
same low-plasticity clay as used in the vane shear tests, and conditions were the
same.Soil samples were compacted in165 mm long, 75 mm internal diameter molds
prepared from Schedule 80 PVC pipe. Seedlings were allowed to grow in the
compacted soil for 4 months; thereafter, eight of the planted samples were infused.
After infusions, all samples were submerged for 2 days and subsequently allowed to
air dry for 8 days to achieve uniform moisture content. During drying, the samples
were loosely covered with plastic wrap to minimize cracking.
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stem were approximately 6mm, which could ensure proper connection to the infusion
apparatus. The soil infusions, and the result of vane shear test are given below.
3.2.1 Infusions
The polymer used for infusions was a mixture of epoxy resin with a number
averaged gram molecular weight less than 700g/mol and polyoxyalkylamine blend
hardener. This polymer was selected based on its long cure times(up to 2 hr) and has
a low viscosity. This polymer may be viable option for such applications as this resin
and similar hardener undergo minimal biodegradation, characterized as 1% mass loss
after buried in soil for one year. Polymer was mixed in accordance with manufacturer
recommendations with 5 part resin to two part hardener by volume with a mixed
viscosity of 0.25 Ns/m2 at 24oc and a density of 1.1 g/cm3. Infusions were conducted
with a high pressure syringe pump loaded with 10-60 mL of polymer within a 60 mL
volume polypropylene syringe. A luer fitting attached to the syringe to the
polypropylene tubing. In this procedure, polymer administered at the plant root stem
above ground, travels approximately longitudinally through the roots within the plant
xylem and phloem, and radial outward from the xylem and phloem through the root
tissue.
For vane shear testing of the previously established beds of Ruellia squarrosa,
infusions were conducted using a manifold system constructed of tees and tubing
sections to connect stem stumps in series and up to 6 root samples were infused
simultaneously. If leakage at tubing connections was observed, infusions were
repeated for samples that appeared not to have been infused sufficiently. Depending
on the number of plants connected to the tubing manifold, infusion rates varied
between 2.5 and 60 mL/h per plant for durations of 630 min. Infusions were initially
conducted at 2.5 mL/h and were increased to 60mL/h to accommodate faster curing
rates of the polymer because of higher temperatures (32C) at the site. Laboratory pot
life of the polymer was approximately 2 hr, whereas field pot life was limited to
approximately 30 min. Infusions were conducted until the infusion pump stalled at the
stall pressure of 1,100 kPa. Soil tests were conducted 1 day after infusions to ensure
that the polymer had cured fully.
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3.2.2 Vane shear test
An uncontrolled field test was performed to examine the effectiveness of the
infused roots by comparing with roots only. Because the in situ tests were performed
over a relative small area and no significant soil inhomogeneity was observed, the
influence of soil variation was considered limited. The measured peak shear strength
in the soil beds for Ruellia squarrosa roots and polymer-infused roots as shown in
Figure.3.2.
For the roots, a shear strength of 80 8 kPa was measured, whereas the
polymer infused roots had a shear strength of 102 9 kPa. Measured values are
significantly different at a 95% confidence level, and polymer infusions of the roots
provided a 28% increase in soil shear strength. It was difficult to locate regions within
the test bed that were totally void of root materials; hence no shear-strength results for
nonplanted soil (i.e., soil only) are presented in Figure.3.2.
120
100
80
Shear
Volume
strength 60
(KPa) High
Low
40
20
0
Polymer Roots
Infused
Roots
Fig.3.2.In Situ Shear Strength Of Elastic Silt Soil Reinforced By Polymer Infused
Roots And Roots Of RuelliaSquarrosa.
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The error bar in the graph indicates how much precise the value is. However,
based on three measurements where minimal root material was observed, the average
soil shear strength was approximately 50 kPa. It is reasonable to believe that the shear
strength of the soil (i.e., without any roots) should be no greater than 50 kPa. Thus the
presence of root material appears to enhance the shear strength of the soil by
approximately 30 kPa or 60%. This amount of reinforcement provided by the roots is
in the range observed by others for soil shear-strength enhancements (440 kPa) by
grasses with low root density and low moisture content (<10%) for a sandy-clay-loam
soil . Polymer-infused roots contributed an additional 22 kPa of soil shear strength,
which confirms that infusing polymers into the roots does improve shear strength.
3.3.1 Infusion
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occurred at the glue connection of the tubing to the plant stem. Leaking polymer was
collected using a paper towel or nytrile glove tied around the stem of the plant, and
tests were conducted 1 day after infusions.
90
80
70
60
Volume
Shear 50
High
strength
40 Low
(kPa)
30 Close
20
10
0
Polymer Roots Soil
Infused Roots
In terms of the trend observed, the roots improved the shear strength of soil by
25%, and the polymer infused roots improved the shear strength of soil by 57%. The
tensile strength of the roots was doubled by polymer infusions. The results shown
that, enhancement of soil shear strength was also nearly double, and this observation
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may support the conclusion that soil shear strength enhancement can be attributed to
the tensile strength enhancements of the roots.
Fig.3.4. Stress Strain Diagram Of Low Plasticity Clay Soil Reinforced With
Polymer Infused Roots And Roots Of Artemisia Annua.
10
45
40
35
Split tensile
strength in 30
KPa Volume
25
High
20 Low
15
10
0
Polymer Infused Roots Roots
Fig.3.5. Tensile Strength Of Non Plasticity Clay Soil Reinforced With Polymer
Infused Roots And Roots.
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was not observed in these test. All syringe readings were made without the syringe
pressurized as the syringes were observed to deform under pressure, leading to error
in infused volume estimates. The polypropylene tubing that connected the plant to the
syringe was filled with polymer before infusions to exclude the volume of the tubing
from calculations.
5. CONCLUSIONS
This study shows that polymer infused roots increase the soil strength
compared with non- infused roots. Polymer infusions of Ruellia squarrosa roots
provided a 22 kPa (28%) increase in soil shear strength. A limitation of this study is
that the Ruellia squarrosa results are based on uncontrolled field measurements, and
further investigations are necessary. Polymer infusions of Artemisia annua roots
provided a 13.6 kPa (55%) increase in soil tensile strength and 13.1 kPa (25%)
increase in shear strength for low plasticity clay.
This process allows for in situ formation of polymer-infused roots for soil
stabilization applications with minimum soil disturbance. This process can be
potentially used for many applications such as surficial stabilization, erosion
prevention, mitigation of surface cracking of clayey soil, and even unpaved roadways.
Compared with other stabilization methods, such as cement or lime based stabilization
or soil stabilization using geosynthetics, this process requires minimal disturbance on
soil especially for existing structures and is a more environmentally friendly
alternative.
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REFERENCES
2. Sauceda, M., et al. (2014). Durability of Polymer Infused Roots for Soil
Stabilization. ASCE Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering, vol. 1561.
3. Sauceda, M., et al. (2013). Soil strength enhancements from polymer infused
roots. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, vol. 241.
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