Investigation and statistical modelling of mechanical properties of soils improved with glass fiber reinforced geopolymer

The use of geopolymers, which are defined as environmentally friendly, is becoming increasingly widespread in geotechnical engineering. In this thesis, the mechanical properties of soils enhanced with glass fiber-reinforced geopolymer were investigated, and the resulting data were statistically modeled. The conducted method promotes the reduction of carbon dioxide gas emitted by using cement. This study underscores that soil improvement can be accomplished without the use of cement, adopting an environmentally sustainable approach. Within the scope of the study, the proportional distribution of materials such as sodium silicate, sodium hydroxide, fly ash, and other similar components in the control mixtures prepared without glass fiber reinforcement was determined with reference to existing literature. Following the acquisition of flexural and compressive strength test results of the control mixtures without glass fiber reinforcement, various combinations were generated by incorporating glass fiber in different lengths and proportions into the control mixtures. The specimens obtained after the designated curing periods for the prepared mixtures were subjected to unconfined compression and flexural strength tests, and the effects of glass fiber reinforcement on both flexural and unconfined compressive strength were investigated. The fiber distribution in the specimens was also examined using a Scanning Electron Microscope(SEM) analysis. The obtained data were analyzed using various statistical methods to examine the correlations between variables, and predictive equations were developed based on the mixture proportions. Consequently, functions that may guide future researchers have been proposed for soils improved using glass fiber-reinforced geopolymer.