2002 Volume 51 Issue 1 Pages 2-7
Various types of lightweight soils have been developed as fill materials over soft grounds and/or behind retaining walls in order to achieve the stability and less deformability. In this study, wasted rigid polyurethane foam (PUF) was used as the lightweight plastic material for a new type of lightweight soil. Since a large amount of the rigid PUF was disposed of every year, if the rigid PUF can be effectively used, the resulting lightweight soil will greatly contribute to the improvement of our environmental problems. The effect of the rigid PUF on the strength and deformation properties of lightweight stabilized soil was investigated based on unconfined compression tests. The main results obtained from this study were: 1) Peak and yielding strengths of the new lightweight soil mixed with PUF depend on the cement content, but not the type of PUF. 2) The stress-strain curves obtained from the compression tests for lightweight soil specimens with the rigid PUF showed a clear yielding phenomenon, and 3) the yielding stress and strain depend on the type of rigid PUF.
