This paper presents an attempt to evaluate the suitability of oil palm shell (OPS) and rubberized OPS (ROPS), an alternative bio-material, as reinforcement in kaolin. OPS was surface coated with rubber, and its water absorption potential was studied in 5 media involving water and kaolin samples (with different water contents). The water absorption data measured in the laboratory was used as an indirect measure to verify the degradability of ROPS samples when used as reinforcements in kaolin. The surface treatment of OPS with rubber was found to perform well, with around a fivefold decrease in water absorption, thus making it an ideal treatment procedure to this end. Kaolin-ROPS mixtures with different OPS and ROPS proportions (0, 5%, 10%, 20%, and 30% by weight) were prepared in laboratory to evaluate their compaction behaviors. Both standard proctor compaction and mini-compaction procedures were adopted in this study to ensure applicability of the findings across a wide range of compaction methods adopted in the laboratory. Compaction curves obtained for both kaolin-OPS and kaolin-ROPS mixes showed a decreasing trend in the maximum dry density values with increasing proportions of OPS and ROPS. Optimum water content of kaolin-OPS mixtures did not show a significant variation, while kaolin-ROPS mixture showed a downward trend with increasing ROPS contents, thereby signifying improvement in the compaction characteristics after OPS reinforcement in kaolin.

中文翻译：

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生橡胶橡胶掌壳增强高岭土的压实特性

本文提出了一种评估油棕壳（OPS）和橡胶化OPS（ROPS）（一种替代生物材料）作为高岭土增强材料的适用性的尝试。OPS表面涂有橡胶，并在5种涉及水和高岭土样品（水含量不同）的介质中研究了其吸水潜力。当在高岭土中用作增强剂时，实验室中测得的吸水率数据被用作间接检验ROPS样品的可降解性。发现用橡胶对OPS进行表面处理效果很好，吸水率降低了大约五倍，因此使其成为理想的处理程序。在实验室中准备了具有不同OPS和ROPS比例（按重量计0、5％，10％，20％和30％）的高岭土-ROPS混合物，以评估其压实性能。本研究采用了标准的proctor压实和小型压实程序，以确保研究结果在实验室采用的多种压实方法中的适用性。高岭土-OPS和高岭土-ROPS混合物的压实曲线显示最大干密度值随OPS和ROPS比例的增加而降低。高岭土-OPS混合物的最佳含水量没有显示出明显的变化，而高岭土-ROPS混合物却随着ROPS含量的增加而呈下降趋势，从而表明在高岭土中OPS增强后的压实特性有所改善。高岭土-OPS和高岭土-ROPS混合物的压实曲线显示最大干密度值随OPS和ROPS比例的增加而降低。高岭土-OPS混合物的最佳含水量没有显示出明显的变化，而高岭土-ROPS混合物却随着ROPS含量的增加而呈下降趋势，从而表明在高岭土中OPS增强后的压实特性有所改善。高岭土-OPS和高岭土-ROPS混合物的压实曲线显示最大干密度值随OPS和ROPS比例的增加而降低。高岭土-OPS混合物的最佳含水量没有显示出明显的变化，而高岭土-ROPS混合物却随着ROPS含量的增加而呈下降趋势，从而表明在高岭土中OPS增强后的压实特性有所改善。