Geotextile performance of fabrics woven by polyethylene terephthalate yarns prepared directly from drinking bottles

Abstract

This research article describes the preparation and characterization of geotextile-reinforced embankment made from yarns produced from polyethylene terephthalate bottles by the bottle cutter and stretching yarn prototype. The yarns produced from plastic bottles were weaved to obtain fabrics with different pattern structures. Yarns and fabrics samples were characterized including yarn number, yarn tensile, fabric thread density, fabric weight, fabric thickness, fabric breaking strength, and fabric bursting strength. The performance of the fabric samples as a geotextile was evaluated by direct shear test, California bearing ratio, and water permeability. The results show that the fabric pattern structure plausibly was the main factor for geotextile performance. The fabric samples with low thread density could develop both interlocking and interbedding mechanisms resulting in higher shear stress and California bearing ratio. Lastly, PLAXIS 2D program simulation with finite element method was used to estimate the possibility of the use of fabric samples as geotextile-reinforced embankment. It was found that the predicted safety factor of soil erosion with fabric sample could reach the value of one which is higher than the safety factor of the soil erosion without fabric sample.