Research Article 20-23 June 2021

Effect of Thermal Properties on Strength in High Plastic Clay Soils Reinforced with
Waste Glass Bottle Powder
Necmi Yarbaşı*,1, Ekrem Kalkan1, Elif A. Aktürk1, H.Osman Kartal2
1Atatürk University, Faculty of Engineering, Civil Engineering Department, Erzurum, Turkey.
2Atatürk University, Graduate School of Sciences, Graduate student
Corresponding Author E-mail: [email protected] Corresponding Author ORCID: 0000-0003-4259-1278

Keywords Abstract
Clay soil, Today, waste/residual materials pose an extremely serious danger to the ecosystem. Such
Glass bottle powder, Strength, materials are widely used in a wide variety of engineering applications to reduce the
Thermal properties, Degrees. negative effects of these waste/residual materials. In recent decades, researchers working on
this issue, especially in geotechnical engineering, have started to use these waste/residual
materials in soil improvement applications. In this study, the strength and thermal effect on
cohesive soils reinforced with waste glass bottle powder (GP) were investigated. Clay soil (CS)
mixed with GP at 5%, 10%, and 15% was compacted at optimum water content using standard
proctor test. Mixture samples were cured for 7, 14, and 28 days. CS samples reinforced with
GP were subjected to a series of unconfined compressive strengths after heating at three
different temperatures (50, 80, and 110 degrees). From the experimental results obtained, the
highest strength; was obtained in the CS+15 GP mixture for 28 days of curing and at 80
degrees heating temperature

1.Introduction ceramic and brick raw material, additive material in metal casting
industry, filling material in paint and plastic (Yurtsever Kara, 2002).
Soil improvement is defined as the improvement of the physical and
mechanical properties (strength, bearing capacity, settlement, Various studies have been carried out on the properties, modification,
swelling, and deformations, etc.) of the soil by mixing various and thermal effects of waste glass bottle powder. Asaga et al. (2006)
examined the effect of waste bottle glass powder on the hydration
additives. The use of natural, synthetic, or various chemicals as
additives in soil stabilization/reinforcement has increased process, strength development and pore structure of the hardened
significantly in the last decade. Clay soil, which are called common cement. As a result; They determined that the waste bottle glass
powder has a pozzolanic reactivity, the compressive strength
and problematic soil, are mixed with various waste or residual
increases with the pozzolanic reaction of the glass and the pore size
materials reinforcement works are continuing at an increasing pace.
Today, many studies are ongoing on the effects of fine and coarse- of the mixture decreases (Asaga et al., 2006).
grained soils on geotechnical properties reinforced with these waste Ustunkol and Turabi (2009) investigated the usability of various
or residual additives (Prabakar and Sridhar, 2002; Akbulut et al., 2007; industrial wastes and glass powders as filler materials in asphalt
Yarbaşı et al., 2007; Hejazi et al., 2012; Maliakal and Thiyyakkandi,
concrete pavement mixtures at values ranging from 7% to 0%. It has
2012; Yarbasi, 2019; Kalkan, 2020; Kalkan et al., 2020; Yarbasi, 2020; been shown that void ratio and stability values are increasing in all
Yarbasi and Kalkan, 2020). These wastes are now defined as raw industrial wastes except glass powder waste, while yielding values are
materials. decreasing (Ustunkol and Turabi, 2009). Khmiri et al. (2012) found that
Due to the increase in the world population and the change in the use of 20% waste glass in cement gave optimum values in terms
of durability (permanence).
consumption habits, our natural resources are decreasing day by day.
Due to the rapid increase in consumption and the threat of running
Mahmutluoglu and Bagrıacik (2020) investigated the effect of glass
out of resources, the recycling system has been emphasized recently. waste sludge and cement on the strength and consolidation
The situation is not different in our country. Parallel to the population parameters of clayey soil under freeze-thaw behavior. It was observed
growth, the increase in the amount of waste and the use of packaged
that the clayey soil became more stable, the strength parameters of
products has made recycling an economic value (CEVKO, 2021).
the soil increased, and the consolidation behavior improved with the
addition of glass waste sludge under the freeze-thaw effect. In
Since waste glass is not biodegradable, they occupy a large amount of
space in landfills. It also causes serious environmental problems such addition, it was observed that these improvements increased with the
as air, water and soil pollution. One of the best ways to reduce addition of cement (Mahmutluoglu and Bagriacik, 2020).
environmental impacts is to recycle and reuse waste glass. Recycling Ahmadi et al. (2021) investigated the effect of simultaneous use of
ensures the protection of natural resources, the reduction of storage
glass fiber and nano-SiO2 on the strength properties of low plasticity
areas, and the conservation of energy and resources (Asaga et al., clay (CL) under various thermal cycles. In the results obtained, they
2006; Mahmutluoglu and Bagriacik, 2020). In addition to the recycling determined that the compressive strength (UCS) of 1.0% nano-SiO2
sector, waste glass is also used as construction material, decorative and 2.5% glass fiber and clay mixture increased from 0.717 MPa to
material, concrete raw material, asphalt material, filter material,
1.381 MPa after 12 thermal cycles (Ahmadi et al., 2021).
PACE 2021- Ataturk University, Engineering Faculty, Department of Civil Engineering, Erzurum, 25030, TURKEY 20-23 June 2021
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Yarbaşı et al.

In this study, the effect of glass bottle powder, which is used to weight of the base material CS. Mixture samples were first compressed
strengthen the geotechnical properties of clayey soils and used as a at optimum water content (ASTM D. 698-78, 2012) with the Standard
waste material, on the strength and thermal properties was Proctor Test, then cylindrical samples with a diameter of 3.5 cm and a
investigated. height of 7.0 cm were formed with samplers. Mixing ratios are 100%
CS (MIX0), 95% CS + 5% GP (MIX1), 90% CS + 10% GP (MIX2), and 85% CS
+ 15% GP (MIX3). After determining the optimum water content of the
mixtures with the Standard Proctor Test, a work program was planned
2. Material to determine the unconfined compressive strength (ASTM D 2166,
2006) under the influence of three different temperatures (50, 80 and
2.1. CS
110 degrees). Mixtures of MIX0, MIX1, MIX2 and MIX3 were cured for
The CS samples used in this study were obtained from the deposits of 7, 14 and 28 days in a humid laboratory environment at 50 ± 5 °C. For
the Oltu Oligocene sedimentary basin, Erzurum, Northeast Turkey. the consistency of the results, 3 (three) samples were prepared for each
This soil with green color and high plasticity ise over-consolidated mixture and the arithmetic average of the results was taken.
and it has clayey-rock characteristics in natural conditions (Kalkan Unconfined compressive strength values were determined at a
and Bayraktutan, 2008). The CS sample and its granulometry curve constant loading speed of 0.5 mm/min.
are shown in Fig. 1, and its physical and mechanical properties are
shown in Table 1.
4. Experimental results

The strength values of CS specimens equipped with GP at three

different temperatures (50, 80 and 110 degrees) were determined with
an unconfined pressure tester. The strength values of MIX1, MIX2 and
MIX3 mixtures were determined after the mixture samples dried in
the laboratory were heated at three different temperatures for 7, 14
and 28 days. The highest strength value was observed in the MIX3
mixture samples, which were heated at 80 degrees after curing for 28
Figure 1. Photos and granulometry curves of CS and GP days. When these values are compared with the reference material CS;
increases were determined as 32.46%, 36.18% and 22.18%, respectively
(Figure 2). Examples and fracture patterns of the examined specimens
are shown in Figure 3.
2.2. GP

Waste glass bottles were obtained from waste material collection

containers created in Erzurum (Turkey) center and its surroundings.
After washing with pressurized water and drying in order to avoid any
residual material in the glass bottles, it was ground in the etching
device at 6000 revolutions. In the elemental analyzes of the waste
glass bottles that were ground into powder, Oxygen 44.53%, Sodium
9.94%, Magnesium 1.61%, Aluminum 1.46%, Silicon 33.93%, and
calcium 8.53%. Analyzes were made at Atatürk University Central
Laboratories (DAYTAM). Waste glass bottle milled samples and
granulometry curve are shown in Fig. 1.

Table 1. Physical and mechanical properties of CS (Kalkan and

Bayraktutan, 2008)

Characteristics CS
Specific weight, Gs 2.64
Sand (%) 10.0
Silty (%) 58.0
Clay (%) 32.0
LL, % 68
PL, % 28
PI, % 40
1Optimum water amount, % 25.8
1
Max. dry weight, (kN/m3) 14.1
2Soil category CH
1
Obtained from Standard Proctor Test.
2Soil class according to Unified Soil Classification System (USCS).

3. Experimental Procedure

In this study, the strength changes of GP reinforced CS as soil

improvement methods under the thermal influence were Figure 2. UCS distribution
investigated. GP was added at 5%, 10% and 15% based on the dry

PACE 2021- Ataturk University, Engineering Faculty, Department of Civil Engineering, Erzurum, 25030, TURKEY 20-23 June 2021
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Yarbaşı et al.

[5.] ASTM D. 698-78, 2012. Fundamental Principles of Soil

Compaction”. American Society for Testing and Materials. West
Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, USA.

[6.] CEVKO, 2021. Environmental Protection and Packaging Waste

Recovery Foundation,
https://www.cevko.org.tr/index.php?lang=tr.

[7.] Hejazi, S.M., Sheikhzadeh, M., Abtahi, S.M., Zadhoush, A., 2012. A
Simple Review of Soil Reinforcement by Using Natural and
Synthetic Fibers. Construction Building Material 30, 100-116.

[8.] Khmiri, A., Samet, B., Chaabouni, M., 2012. A Cross Mixture
Design to Optimise the Formulation of a Ground Waste Glass
Blended Cement. Cement and Concrete Composites 28 (1), 680-
Fig. 3. Examples of studied samples and fracture patterns 686.

[9.] Kalkan, E., 2020. A Review on the Microbial Induced Carbonate

Precipitation (MICP) for Soil Stabilization. International Journal
5. Conclusions of Earth Sciences Knowledge and Applications 2 (1) 38-47.

In this study, the effect of strength at three different temperatures [10.] Kalkan, E., Bayraktutan, M., 2008. Geotechnical evaluation of
(50, 80, 110 degrees) on CS reinforced with GP, which is a waste Turkish clay deposits: a case study in Northern Turkey.
material, was investigated. As a result of experimental studies, it was Environmental Geology 55 (5), 937-950.
determined that GP additive increased the strength of CS at three
different temperatures. Curing time and increase in GP additive rate [11.] Kalkan, E., Yarbasi, N., Bilici, O., 2020. The Effects of Quartzite on
played an important role in this increase. The highest strength the Swelling Behaviors of Compacted Clayey Soils. International
increase was seen in the CS+15 GP (MIX3) mixture at 80 degrees Celsius Journal of Earth Sciences Knowledge and Applications 2 (2) 92-
and 28 days of curing. The strength increase rate in this mixture was 101.
36.18%. As a result, GP offers many advantages such as increased
[12.] Mahmutluoglu, B., Bagriacik, B., 2020. Effect of Glass Waste
strength, lower cost, and environmental impact. Therefore, it is Sludge on the Freezing-Thawing Behavior of Clayey Soils.
concluded that GP can be used as a sustainable and environmentally Çukurova University Journal of the Faculty of Engineering and
friendly material that reduces stabilization costs. Architecture 35 (3), 783-795.

[13.] Maliakal, T., Thiyyakkandi, S., 2012. Influence of randomly

distributed coir fibers on the shear strength of clay. Geotechnical
Acknowledgements Geology Engineering 31, 425-433.

[14.] Prabakar, J., Sridhar, R.S., 2002. Effect of random inclusion of

This experimental research was supported by the Scientific Research
sisal fiber on strength behavior of soil. Construction and Building
Project of Ataturk University with the ID number of 9229 code of FHD- Materials 16, 123-231.
2021-9229. So, the authors thank the authorities of the Ataturk
University for the support. [15.] Ustunkol, F.N., Turabi, A., 2009. Evaluation of industrial wastes
in highway superstructure. BAU Journal of FBE 11 (1), 15-27.

[16.] Yarbasi, N., 2019. Performance of granular soils reinforced with

Declaration of Conflict of Interests obsidian (volcanic glass) additives in different proportions
subjected to freeze-thaw. Pamukkale University Journal of
Engineering Sciences 25 (6), 764-767.
There are no known competing financial interests or personal
relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported [17.] Yarbaşi, N., 2020. Effect of Freezing-Thawing on Clayey Soils
in this paper. Reinforced with Human Hair Fibers. Journal of Natural Fibers 17
(6), 921-931.

[18.] Yarbasi, N., Kalkan, E., 2020. The Mechanical Performance of

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PACE 2021- Ataturk University, Engineering Faculty, Department of Civil Engineering, Erzurum, 25030, TURKEY 20-23 June 2021
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