STUDY ON THE STRENGTH OF EARTHBAGS

INTRODUCTION
Background of the study With the increasing impact of natural disasters brought by climate change, there is an increasing need for a disaster-resistant housing especially in those countries that are located in the pacific region which is usually stricken by natural disaster just like the Philippines

And in these countries, houses are easily prone to destruction which is one of the main problems of the people. Moreover, with the sudden increase in population that results for a greater demand for housing, it leads to a depletion of resources in housing materials; therefore there is a need to look for an alternative way to construct buildings using another kind of building material that is very common

Earthbags are a potential solution to these problems. Earthbag is an innovative building technology being built increasingly around the world. It have long been used for creating strong, protective barriers and for flood control.

The same reasons that make them useful for these applications carry over to creating housing. They are made out of polypropylene, which makes them resistant to degradation over time, and immune to rotting. And the fill materials is considered to be very common and easy to find.

Statement of the Problem

One of the greatest needs in the world is disaster-resistant housing and an alternative building material for sustainable structure. Therefore it is in the above regard that this study will be conducted to investigate the properties of polypropylene earthbags, and evaluate their potential as an alternative building material for sustainable structure and possible disaster relief housing.

Specifically, the study intends to:

1.

Determine the tensile strength of the polypropylene earthbags. . Determine the compressive strength of the polypropylene earthbags.

2.

Significance of the study

The result of this study might show that polypropylene earthbags have the potential as an alternative building material for sustainable structure and possible disaster relief housing

Scope and limitations of the study

The study will be focused on the material properties, specifically on its compressive and tensile strength, of polypropylene earthbags.

Definition of Terms
Earthbags-are woven polypropylene that comes either in cut bags or un cut tube rolls. Polypropylene bags-are bags made from the synthetic plastic polymer polypropylene, a frequently used material in consumer goods and some industrial applications. It is used because it is strong, flexible and can be made transparent.

Tensile strength- the resistance of a material to a force tending to tear it apart, measured as the maximum tension the material can withstand without tearing.
Compressive strength- capacity of a material or structure to withstand axially directed pushing force

Sustainable building- refers to a structure and using process that is environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building life cycle.

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE Earthbags or commonly known as soilbags are woven polypropylene bags that come either in cut bags or uncut tube rolls. , since their invention in the 17th century for fortifying military defenses, have become very common through their usefulness in a wide variety of fields, such as flood protection and earth retaining systems. Their ability to be lifted by hand makes them versatile and manageable, and they can be filled with any granular material suitable for the particular application.

Soilbags, Donow in Japanese, are commonly used for embankment raising at times of flood and as temporary structures during reconstruction after disasters. Soilbags have rarely been applied to earth reinforcement because of the deterioration of bags after long exposure to sunlight, especially the polyethylene(PE) bags that are extremely vulnerable to ultraviolet rays. Nevertheless, there are advantages to using quality controlled soilbags(wrapping soils in a particular type of bag) as earth reinforcement.

This is because, when a soilbag undergoes external force or building load, tensile force occurs along the bag, which in turn enhances the bearing capacity of the soilbag. Analogously, external forces including the self-weight of buildings, will strengthen the foundations reinforced by soilbags. It is interesting to see that soilbags have the ability to convert the external force which is the enemy of the foundations into the friend of the foundations using the actions of the tensile forces along the bags.

Inspired by these unique characteristics, soilbags may be applied to soft foundation reinforcement. . The bearing capacity of the foundations will be greatly improved, although a small amount of settlement still exist in the reinforced foundations. Wrapping soils in a particular type of bag is more effective and reliable than the commonly used horizontal sheet earth reinforcement. The advantages of the quality-controlled soilbags may be summarizes as follows:

Bags are cheap and easy to acquire

Soilbags have almost the same unit weight as foundation soils The materials inside soilbags can be various construction wastes, such as crushed concrete, asphalt and tile wastes. Soilbags thus contribute greatly to the recycling of waste materials

No special construction equipment is required. Soilbags can be constructed solely by human labor

Earth reinforcement using soilbags is environmentally friendly because cement and chemical agents are avoided
Less noise and vibration are produced during construction, in comparison to the pile driving method that is commonly used in soft/weak foundation

Soils are essentially frictional materials. Wrapping frictional earth materials in a bag is an innovative idea. In comparison with steel and concrete, the materials used in soilbag construction are flexible and environmentally friendly. Therefore, quality controlled soilbags may be widely used in earth reinforcement.(Matsuoka and Liu, 2003)

METHODOLOGY 1. Gathering of materials The polypropylene bag with a size of 50cm by 90cm will be bought in the local market and the fill materials like sand, gravel, mixed sand and gravel and soil will be collected from a stockpile located at Brgy. 10 Sarrat Ilocos Norte. On the other hand, the materials that will be used as an anchor for the determination of the tensile strength and the straw that will be used in sealing the polypropylene bag will be bought in the construction supply.

2. Preparation of samples Samples for the determination of the tensile strength using pull-out test. First, insert the 2-9mm steel bar on the both ends of the 2x3x1 lumber(figure 1) then place it inside the polypropylene bag allowing the steel bar to come out of the sides of the polypropylene bag.
9mm RSB

Do this on the other side of the polypropylene bag, (figure 2.) Then fill the bags with sand, gravel, mixed sand and gravel and soil. Prepare 3 samples for each fill. Then seal the bag using the straw.
Polypropylene bag

Samples for the determination of the compressive strength using compression test

Fill the bags with sand, gravel, mixed sand and gravel and soil. Prepare 9 samples for each fill. Then seal the bag using the straw.

3 Testing of samples Pull-out test After sealing the bag tie a rope on both ends of the 2-9mm steel bar and attach it to the universal testing machine(UTM). On the other side of the bag tie a rope on the both ends of the 2-9mm steel bar and attached it to a fixed support (figure 3). Then perform the pull-out test using the UTM. Do the same procedure in the other samples of different fills.

Compression test After sealing the bag place 3 samples of the same fill piled up together in the UTM and perform the compression test. Do the same procedure in the other remaining samples of different fill.