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Review
. 2022 Nov 18;14(22):5004.
doi: 10.3390/polym14225004.

A Critical Review on the Feasibility of Synthetic Polymers Inclusion in Enhancing the Geotechnical Behavior of Soils

Abdullah Almajed  1 , Kehinde Lemboye  1 , Arif Ali Baig Moghal  2
Affiliations
Review

A Critical Review on the Feasibility of Synthetic Polymers Inclusion in Enhancing the Geotechnical Behavior of Soils

Abdullah Almajed et al. Polymers (Basel). .

Abstract

Polymers have attracted widespread interest as soil stabilizers and are proposed as an ecologically acceptable means for enhancing the geotechnical properties of soils. They have found profound applications in diverse fields such as the food industry, textile, medicine, agriculture, construction, and many more. Various polymers are proven to increase soil shear strength, improve volume stability, promote water retention, and prevent erosion, at extremely low concentrations within soils through the formation of a polymer membrane around the soil particles upon hydration. The purpose of this work is to provide an overview of existing research on synthetic polymers for soil improvement. A fundamental evaluation of many synthetic polymers used in soil stabilization is provided, Furthermore, the impact of different polymer types on the geotechnical parameters of treated soil was assessed and compared. Limiting factors like polymer durability and the effect of changing climatic conditions on the engineering behavior of the polymer-treated soils have been critically reviewed. The dominant mechanisms responsible for the alteration in the behavior of polymer-soil admixture are reviewed and discussed. This review article will allow practicing engineers to better understand the intrinsic and extrinsic parameters of targeted polymers before employing them in real-field scenarios for better long-term performance.

Keywords: clay; geotechnical properties; sand; stabilization; strength; synthetic polymer.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Variation in the Atterberg limit resulting from polymer inclusion at high concentration: (a) Liquid limit; (b) Plastic limit (* indicates polymer concentration as a % of dry weight of soil and ** as a % of weight of water). Note: these figures were created with data obtained from [65,108,109,122,139,140,141,142,143,147].
Figure 2
Figure 2
Variation in the Atterberg limit resulting from polymer inclusion at low concentration: (a) Liquid limit; (b) Plastic limit (** indicates polymer concentration as a % of weight of water). Note: these figures were created with data obtained from [96,102,144,145].
Figure 5
Figure 5
Influence of polymer treatment on the UCS of: (a) Clayey soil; (b) Silty soil (* indicates polymer concentration as a % of dry weight of soil and ** as a % of weight of water). Note: these figures were created with data obtained from [110,139,142,143,147,152,153,154,156,157,158,159].
Figure 3
Figure 3
Plasticity chart of soil treated with polymer (** indicates polymer concentration as a % of weight of water). Note: this figure was created with data obtained from [65,102,108,141,142,143,145,147].
Figure 4
Figure 4
Variation in the compaction characteristic of fine-grain soil treated with polymer: (a) Maximum dry density; (b) Optimum moisture content (* indicates polymer concentration as a % of dry weight of soil). Note: these figures were created with data obtained from [65,109,110,136,143,149,150].
Figure 6
Figure 6
Influence of polymer treatment on the UCS of sand applied at: (a) High polymer concentration; (b) Low polymer concentration (* indicates polymer concentration as a % of dry weight of soil and ** as a % of weight of water). Note: these figures were created with data obtained from [114,116,124,128,130,160,161].
Figure 7
Figure 7
Variation in the shear strength parameter of fine-grain soil with polymer concentration: (a) Cohesion; (b) Frictional angle (* indicates polymer concentration as a % of dry weight of soil). Note: these figures were created with data obtained from [109,159,165,166].
Figure 8
Figure 8
Variation in the shear strength parameter of cohesionless soil with polymer concentration: (a) Cohesion; (b) Frictional angle (* indicates polymer concentration as a % of dry weight of soil and ** as a % of weight of water). Note: these figures were created with data obtained from [114,116,130,160].
Figure 9
Figure 9
Variation of hydraulic conductivity with polymer concentration for: (a) Fine-grain soil; (b) Cohesionless soil (* indicates polymer concentration as a % of dry weight of soil and ** as a % of weight of water). Note: these figures were created with data obtained from [65,104,118,135,160,162,169,170,171,172].
Figure 10
Figure 10
Variation in the sediment behavior of expansive clay with polymer concentration: (a) Volumetric swell ratio; (b) Free swell ratio/index (concentration of PVA as a % of dry weight of soil). Note: these figures were created with data obtained from [101,102,122].
Figure 11
Figure 11
Influence on polymer treatment on the swell potential of expansive clay (concentration of PP, PVA and PMMA are defined as the % of the dry weight of soil). Note: this figure was created with data obtained from [110,143,171,177].
Figure 12
Figure 12
Influence on polymer treatment on the swell pressure of expansive clay (concentration of PP is defined as the % of the dry weight of soil). Note: this figure was created with data obtained from [110,143,171].
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