The shear strength and electron microscopy of laterite soil with the intrusion of polyurethane

• Published in: AIP Conference Proceedings
• Main Author: Lat D.C.; Jais I.B.M.; Ahmad N.H.; Abdullah M.; Razali R.; Noor S.N.A.M.; Rahman N.S.A.
• Format: Conference paper
• Language: English
• Published: American Institute of Physics Inc. 2021
• Online Access: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85105660504&doi=10.1063%2f5.0044225&partnerID=40&md5=0337469e90eb35c09f678cd057acf890

Recently, lightweight PU foam has been widely used as a soil improvement due to its several advantages. This study is conducted to determine the shear strength and structural electron microscopy of laterite soil with the intrusion of polyurethane, subsequently to visualize and evaluate the bonding between soil particles and polyurethane. Unconfined compressive strength test on remoulded soils was carried out to identify the shear strength of the laterite soil with and without the intrusion of PU foam whilst the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) test was conducted to determine the structural microscopy image of the laterite soil with and without the intrusion of polyurethane. The results show that the intrusion of PU into the soil able to fill the void in between the soil particles, thus formed strong bonding between the soil particles and subsequently increase the shear strength of the soil. © 2021 American Institute of Physics Inc.. All rights reserved.