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5. Conclusions
5.1 Summary of findings
The purpose of our experiments was to investigate the soil strength (shear, tensile) for different types of soil, and our research question is: “What are the soil strengths for soils with different moisture levels?” We hypothesised that soils with a higher moisture level will have greater shear strength and that soils with a higher moisture level will have greater tensile strength.
For shear strength, it decreases as the moisture level of the soil increases. The range of moisture levels was from 1.4 to 3.4 and without considering the anomaly, the smallest strength was 833.56 kPa and the greatest strength was 1274.86 kPa. This would mean that soils with lower moisture levels have greater shear strength.
Moreover, for our tensile strength results, the tensile strength increased as the moisture level of the soils increased. The range of moisture levels was from 2.5 to 4.1, and the smallest strength was 1.83 psi and the greatest strength was 2.60 psi. This shows that soils with higher moisture levels have greater tensile strength.
Thus, engineers can lower or increase the moisture levels of their soils according to whether they need great shear or tensile strength before construction so their buildings will have stronger foundations and will be able to withstand more force.
5.2 Contributions of research
Through our research, we have contributed by making a correlation between the shear and tensile strengths of soils and their moisture levels. Our findings contribute to the testing of soils for the construction of buildings and structures. We have also contributed to the UN sustainable development Goal 9: Industry, innovation, and infrastructure. Due to the world’s growing population, there is a need for more and more houses to continue to be built. However, every soil has different strengths and being able to give the soils the highest chance of having greater strengths by modifying them would be of great use. The knowledge we have gained from our research can be shared with professionals in modifying and observing which soils would be the most suitable for our world’s structures.
5.3 Practical Applications
With our research results, other construction companies would be clearer on which type of soil to use with the right amount of moisture such that the soil would be very strong and would be able to withstand any winds or natural disasters. Moreover, with this knowledge, companies would also be able to prevent additional costs spent on healthcare and reconstruction if the building does fall due to the soil not being strong enough.
As stated in research conducted by Caprili et al. (2015), detailed knowledge of the geotechnical parameters of the soil and the effective geometry of the foundation system allows the achievement of more reliable information about the state of the art of the building and to quantify the fulfilment of the safety requirements imposed by actual standards.
5.4 Areas for further study
Further investigation and research should be done to observe the relationship between the moisture levels of other types of soil and their shear and tensile strengths. The independent variable could be kept as the moisture level or can be changed to pH level or the components of each soil. The dependent variables can still be shear and tensile strengths or can be changed to see how well a plant would grow in the modified soil. The constant variable can also be a different type of soil such as granular or sand instead of clay. A study by Liu, P. et al. (2021) about the effect of moisture content on the shear behaviour of a completely decomposed granite has already been done. This shows how our research can be taken further and done on more types of soils, to observe the shear or tensile strengths of soils with different moisture contents.
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