Stabilization of sand using energy efficient materials under normal and extreme hot weathers Abdullah Almajed, Husain Abbas, Tarek Almusallam, Yousef Al-Salloum * Chair of Research and Studies in Strengthening and Rehabilitation of Structures, Dept. of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, King Saud University, P.O. Box 800, Riyadh, 11421, Saudi Arabia article info Article history: Received 25 July 2020 Received in revised form 29 September 2020 Accepted 1 November 2020 Available online xxx Handling editor: Prof. Jiri Jaromir Kleme s Keywords: Sand Polymer Fibers Recycled hemp fibers Strength Temperature abstract This study employs the byproducts of petroleum hydrocarbons, available in abundance locally, such as polymer and polypropylene (PP) fibers and natural hemp fibers obtained from the discarded ropes for the stabilization of sand. The test parameters included polymer content, fiber type, fiber percentage, and weather temperature. The polymer percentages used for the stabilization of sand were: 1.5%, 1.75%, 2.00%, and 2.25% by weight of sand. The percentages of PP fibers were 0.5% and 1%, whereas the per- centages of recycled hemp fibers were 1% and 2% by weight. The direct shear, unconfined compressive strength (UCS), and modulus rupture tests were used for the assessment of the performance of the modified sand. The effect of exposure to the elevated weather temperature and subsequent cooling was also investigated for a selected polymer content. A total of 210 specimens were tested for different tests. The optimal percentages of polymer and fibers are obtained experimentally for achieving the best per- formance of the polymer modified fiber reinforced soil. The PP fibers are found to outperform the recycled hemp fibers in terms of the shear strength characteristics of the modified sand. The loss in UCS of polymer modified fiber reinforced sand due to the exposure to the elevated temperature of 80  C is regained on cooling by 85%e100%. © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction The dust emission from wind erosion that may come from construction sites, unpaved roads, or sand dunes pollute the air, which is a serious problem for the society as it affects human life in short and long terms. Recently, these issues from dust emission and pavement stabilization are attracting the attention of investigators around the world. Several techniques have been used to mitigate the dust such as the use of cement, lime, polymers, coal ash, and enzyme induced calcite precipitation (EICP) (Almajed et al., 2018, 2020; Iyengar et al., 2013). In the past, soil stabilization focused more on using traditional techniques such as fly ash, cement, bitumen, and so on. These techniques have been investigated intensively by Dhar and Hussain (2019), Emeh and Igwe (2016), and Petry and Armstrong (1989). The use of cement in soil stabilization being a popular method has further increased its demand in construction industry, which is responsible for further increase in the emission of carbon dioxide, a major source of greenhouse effect (Cao et al., 2016; Iftikhar et al., 2016). Thus, there is a need for focused research for finding eco- friendly substitute of cement (Benhelal et al., 2012, 2013). An effort was made by the authors in a previous research (Almajed et al., 2020) for exploring the possibility of replacing cement by biocementation alternatives. The present study is focused on another direction of non-conventional methods of sand stabiliza- tion for finding ecofriendly method of stabilizing sand and hence solving the dust problem. Non-traditional technique recently gained the attention of the researchers to investigate the advantages of these techniques. Arrigoni et al. (2018) used recycled concrete aggregates for stabi- lizing rammed earth. The performance of the rammed earth was studied in terms of the unconfined compressive strength (UCS) and sustainability. The UCS was found to be affected more by the par- ticle size distribution rather than the percentage of recycled ag- gregates. Polyacrylamide (PAM), which is a type of polymer, has been used to stabilize the soil in pavement construction. PAM in pavement engineering has anticipated a tremendous decrease in greenhouse gas emissions and decrease in water use, as well as saves a lot of money in the maintenance of road (Andrews et al., * Corresponding author. E-mail address: ysalloum@ksu.edu.sa (Y. Al-Salloum). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Cleaner Production journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jclepro https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.124914 0959-6526/© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Journal of Cleaner Production xxx (xxxx) xxx Please cite this article as: A. Almajed, H. Abbas, T. Almusallam et al., Stabilization of sand using energy efficient materials under normal and extreme hot weathers, Journal of Cleaner Production, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.124914