Effect of Chemical Treatment of the Coir Geotextiles on the Interface Properties of Sand–/Clay–Coir Geotextile Interface

Abstract

The paper presents the effect of untreated and chemically treated coir geotextiles on the interface properties of sand–/clay–coir geotextile interface. For this purpose, two woven and two non-woven coir geotextiles were used. The chemicals used for the treatment of coir geotextiles were p-aminophenol, sodium periodate and sodium hydroxide. The results indicated that the adhesion at the clay–/sand–coir geotextile interface with treated woven coir geotextiles was higher in comparison with the untreated woven coir geotextiles. The interface friction angle at the clay–/sand–coir geotextile interface with the treated woven coir geotextiles was less in comparison with the untreated woven coir geotextiles. The adhesion as well as interface friction angle at the clay–/sand–coir geotextile interface with treated non-woven coir geotextiles was higher in comparison with the untreated non-woven coir geotextiles. For the sand–coir geotextile interface with untreated non-woven coir geotextiles, the observed adhesion as well as interface friction angle was higher in comparison with the clay–coir geotextile interface. For the sand–coir geotextile interface with untreated woven coir geotextiles, the observed adhesion was less in comparison with the clay–coir geotextile interface, whereas the interface friction angle was higher for the sand–coir geotextile interface in comparison with the clay–coir geotextile interface.