Improvement of soil strength using biopolymers
Improvement of soil strength using biopolymers
Compared to traditional inorganic binders, biopolymers have several advantages: abundant sources, high processability, and environmental friendliness, which makes them have promising applications in soil stabilization. In this work, Xanthan and Chitosan, two widely used biopolymers in soil stabilization, were selected to study their performance of soil strength improvement. As the saturation level largely influences the soil strength, we focus on saturated samples to assess the effective strength. We used consolidated drained triaxial tests to measure the shear strength of two kinds of sand (coarse and fine sand) untreated or treated by biopolymers. We found that the mixing process and the stability of the biopolymer in the water can largely influence the sample's mechanical strength. In the Xanthan case, the wet mixing method with hot water yields the best results. Meanwhile, there is probably an optimal water content to help Xanthan gels form and disperse in the sands. In the Chitosan case, the mixing process consumes more water, and the addition of acetic acid to mix Chitosan with water is also necessary. Differently from the Xanthan case, the performance of the Chitosan did not differ for the two considered sands despite their different grain size distributions.
Min Yao; Benhui Fan; Fernando Lopez-Caballero; J. M. Fleureau
2025 International Conference on Bio-mediated and Bio-inspired Geotechnics (ICBBG2025)
Special symposium: Biopolymer treated soils
https://doi.org/10.53243/ICBBG2025-185
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