Investigation of Mechanical Behavior of Inflatable Sand Using Malass and Black Liqueur

One of the main challenges of land degradation management in arid and desert areas of Iran is the stabilization of sand as well as the control of dust; therefore the use of mulches, particularly eco-friendly mulch, is one of the ways to stabilize sand used. The purpose of this study was to investigate the possibility of using residues such as black liqueur and malass as mulch to stabilize the sand. To prepare the substrate for treatments in the laboratory environment, Rig Boland sandy of Kashan was used. Metal trays with dimensions of 100 × 30 × 2 cm were used for the experiments. For spraying of malass, black liquor and control treatments in a single layer and double layer of 2.5-liter sprinkler were applied and a completely randomized design with three replications was performed. To evaluate the performance of these materials, the shear strength, saturation, and dry strength and water permeability were measured and the data were analyzed by appropriate statistical software. In vitro results showed that the penetration resistance of molasses and black liqueur mulches were 9.8 and 7.8 kN/m2, respectively. These two types of mulch have significant differences with each other and with control (water) treatment. The highest penetration and shear strength were related to Malass treatment, which increased the penetration resistance by 9.8 times and the shear resistance by 14 times. The infiltration rate in one-layer liqueur mulch was significantly different compared to Malass and control (water) mulches, while the infiltration rate decreased with increasing thickness.