Abstract
In this study, silt type soil specimens were prepared by using polyvinyl acetate (PVA) resin type thermoset polymer binder. Before the specimen preparation, the soil was classified by sieving and determined to be ML coded inorganic silt according to the Atterberg limit tests. The soil specimen was taken from the Giresun city and the PVA resin was mixed with different amounts of 7% and 14% by weight. The uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) values of the specimens were determined to investigate the effect of varying PVA amounts in the mix. Additionally, different curing temperatures (5°, 25°, 50°) were investigated to assess whether the temperature is an important factor for the performance of the PVA binder. According to the results obtained from this study, specimens with 7% and 14% PVA resin had mean UCS values of 0.9 MPa and 1.6 MPa, respectively. For the investigated interval, UCS values were evaluated to increase up to 59% with increasing curing temperature values. The PVA type polymer resin was assessed to be an advantageous soil binder for various applications.