EFFECT OF FURNITURE WASTE ON ENGINEERING PROPERTIES OF EXPANSIVE SOILS

Abstract

Expansive soils are the type of soils that change greatly in volume when they contact to water. Hence, this type of soils causes some geotechnical and structural problems. Many methods are used to stabilize these soils. In recent years, additives have been widely used for this purpose. Among these additives, the use of environmentally friendly waste materials has gained significant importance. In this study, furniture waste was used as a waste material to stabilize the high plasticity clay soil. Samples were prepared by adding waste material to the soil by the rate of 2.5%, 5% and 7.5. Atterberg limits tests to determine the consistency limits on the samples, Proctor test to determine optimum water content and maximum dry unit weight values, and consolidation test to determine swelling potentials were used. The consolidation test was carried out according to method A of ASTM D 4546 standard and the test samples were tested after they were prepared according to the optimum water content. The sample that contained 5% waste material and reduced the swelling percentage by 12.59% was determined as the most effective mixture in reducing swelling.