Experimental study of polyurethane foam reinforced soil used as a rock-like material


Komurlu E., KESİMAL A.

JOURNAL OF ROCK MECHANICS AND GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING, vol.7, no.5, pp.566-572, 2015 (ESCI) identifier identifier

Abstract

In this study, polyurethane foam type thermoset polymerizing, due to chemical reaction between its liquid ingredients, was tested as binder after solidifying and then a rock-like material mixing with a sandy silt type soil was prepared. The uniaxial compressive strengths (UCSs) of polyurethane foam reinforced soil specimens were determined for different polyurethane ratios in the mixture. Additionally, a series of tests on slake durability, impact value, freezing-thawing resistance, and abrasion resistance of polyurethane reinforced soil (PRS) mixture was conducted. The UCS values over 3 MPa were measured from the PRS specimens. The testing results showed that treated soil can economically become a desirable rock-like material in terms of slake durability and resistances against freezing-thawing, impact effect and abrasion. As another characteristic of the rock-like material made with polyurethane foam, unit volume weight was found to be quite lower than those of natural rock materials. (C) 2015 Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.