Design of a woven geotextile fabric based on sisal fibers for engineering applications.

Abstract

This research was a final year project as a requirement for the award of a bachelor degree in Textile engineering Busitema University at the end of the 4 years. Two geotextile fabrics, one as a control and the other for laboratory tests. Laboratory tests were conducted on a geotextile especially the apparent open size (AOS), permittivity, and strip test for tensile strength, mass per unit area, elongation at break, and all signifies the application of the geotextile in reinforcement as class 3 geotextile. Most human activities for example agricultural practices and road construction, are not eco-friendly to the environment which leads to climatic changes, resource depletion, global warming through the volume of pollutants they introduce to it. Strategies that aim at sustainable agriculture and construction of roads is the measure that can mitigate these threats from the environment. One of the measures to mitigate the threats is to use biodegradable and renewable materials. The most important properties of biodegradable geotextiles such as sisal based for soil reinforcement are their high initial tensile strength 846 N, AOS =0.22 mm, permittivity “Ψ” =0.002 s-l and other results that shows comparable properties with Jute geotextiles and the geosynthetic based geotextiles as illustrated in tables 4.14 and 4.7.4 in appendix of the report. Widespread use of biodegradable fabrics in ground engineering has not happened due to the limited service life of these fabrics and availability of synthetic fibers, which are superior to vegetable fibers but the overall aim of this design is to demonstrate the potential for the use of sustainable biodegradable sisal based geotextile fabrics over their man-made polymeric counter parts in ground Engineering.