Natural and Artificial Fibers in Geoengineering Applications

Dear Colleagues,

For many years, soil improvement techniques have been introduced and verified both in the laboratory and in the field. These methods include dynamic methods (e.g., impact compaction) or other techniques of soil reinforcement with various additives, such as the traditional ones: lime, cement, and fly ash, or non-traditional ones: rubber waste, natural fibers, and artificial fibers.

The use of natural fibers (plant, animal, and mineral) and artificial fibers in geoengineering, especially for improving/strengthening weak soil, including for the needs of road and rail transport, is of great interest among researchers. Therefore, this Special Issue aims to present different solutions in the field of sustainable geotechnics and bring together the state of the art in modern geotechnics using natural wastes (e.g., fibers of flax/palm/jute/sisal/bamboo/hemp/kenaf/sawdust and others, spent coffee grounds, the feathers of chickens/birds, human hairs, eggshells/seashells, etc.) and artificial wastes (e.g., fibers of PP/PET/PE/PVA, glass fibers, nylon fibers, etc.).

All the above-mentioned additives are most often used to improve soft soils. However, the effect of such an improvement requires finding the optimal mixture proportions and mixing techniques, and thus experimental verification in the laboratory and in situ, which is often not so simple.

It is our pleasure to invite you to present, in the form of research articles or review papers, your own experience in planning and implementing advanced laboratory tests with the mixtures mentioned above. This Special Issue will cover all the newest results and trends in the research, modeling, and testing of contemporary soil–other material (natural and artificial fibers) mixtures. This invitation is addressed to a wide group of scientists and practitioners working in the field of sustainable geotechnical engineering.

Prof. Dr. Małgorzata Jastrzębska
Dr. Gabriele Chiaro
Dr. Krystyna Kazimierowicz-Frankowska
Dr. Amin Soltani
Guest Editors

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• soft soil improvement
• plant fibers
• animal fibers
• mineral fibers
• artificial fibers
• natural waste materials
• biodegradability
• biocomposites
• recycling
• sustainability in geotechnics
• environmental geotechnics
• modeling of soil/non-traditional additive mixtures
• laboratory procedures
• experimental testing
• mechanical and physical parameters of soil–fiber mixtures