Development and Evaluation of Physical and Engineering Properties of Needle-Punched Coir Latex Composites

Abstract

Natural geotextiles both woven and nonwoven have proved to be beneficial in stabilizing the weak subgrade by extending the service life of pavement and reducing the cost of construction. Nonwoven geotextiles can be used as separator in pavements as they allow in-plane permeability, but their tensile strength is low. In this study, an attempt is made to develop eco-friendly needle-punched coir latex composite sheets as an alternative to nonwoven coir geotextiles. Three types of products were developed by the impregnation of nonwoven needle-punched fabric with prevulcanized latex having densities 400, 600, and 800 grams per square meter (GSM). An experimental investigation on the effect of latex content on the mechanical properties of coir composites revealed that latex impregnation improves the mechanical properties of all coir composites and composites with 50% latex content exhibited maximum performance. Strength and drainage characteristics of reinforced soil-aggregate system were studied to evaluate the potential of coir composites as a separator in low volume roads by conducting the California bearing ratio (CBR) test, permeability, and transmissivity tests. The performance of the developed coir composites was compared with nonwoven coir felt and woven coir geotextile. It was found that 800 GSM coir composite showed 47% improvement in performance when compared to 400 GSM woven coir geotextile which showed only 40% performance improvement.