Experimental Evaluation of the Shear Behavior of Fiber-Reinforced Calcareous Sands
Publication: International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 18, Issue 12
Abstract
Fiber-reinforced calcareous sands manifest unique properties of increased shear strength and particle breakage. These features are of practical importance for some offshore engineering constructions because the strength improvement and efficient dense compaction of soils are both important. This paper presents experimental evaluations of the characteristics of shear strength and particle breakage of fiber-reinforced calcareous sands by direct shear and ring shear (RS) tests with different vertical loading stress, fiber content, and fiber length. In the tests, the mixture of fiber and sands can make the specimen a spatially interlocked and unitary coherent network with efficient stress transmission. In addition, the overall deformation of the sand specimen would increase with the fiber content due to low stiffness of fiber elements. Thus, in direct shear tests, the secant elastic modulus decreased, while the shear strength increased with the fiber content. The contribution of fiber to the shear strength of the sand specimen came mainly from the friction and tension forces exerted when they were deformed. These two forces could mobilize the additional shear resistance of sands and thus increase the overall shear strength of the sample. In the RS tests, the breakage intensity of calcareous sands increased with the vertical loading stress, fiber content, and fiber length. At low fiber content and length, the interparticle contacts and interlocking effects influenced the shear strength and particle breakage significantly, while at higher fiber content, the role of fiber friction and tension forces became dominant.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
This research was supported by the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant XDA19060301), National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grants 41877260, 41572297, and 41602289), Youth Innovation Promotion Association of CAS (Grant 2015272). All these supports are acknowledged.
References
Bolton, M. D., Y. Nakata, and Y. P. Cheng. 2008. “Micro- and macro-mechanical behaviour of DEM crushable materials.” Géotechnique 58 (6): 471–480. https://doi.org/10.1680/geot.2008.58.6.471.
Bowman, E. T., W. A. Take, K. L. Rait, and C. Hann. 2012. “Physical models of rock avalanche spreading behaviour with dynamic fragmentation.” Can. Geotech. J. 49 (4): 460–476. https://doi.org/10.1139/t2012-007.
Consoli, N. C., M. D. T. Casagrande, A. Thomé, F. D. Rosa, and M. Fahey. 2009. “Effect of relative density on plate loading tests on fibre-reinforced sand.” Géotechnique 59 (5): 471–476. https://doi.org/10.1680/geot.2007.00063.
Consoli, N. C., R. R. de Moraes, and L. Festugato. 2011. “Split tensile strength of monofilament polypropylene fiber-reinforced cemented sandy soils.” Geosynthetics Int. 18 (2): 57–62. https://doi.org/10.1680/gein.2011.18.2.57.
Coop, M. R., K. K. Sorensen, T. Bodas Freitas, and G. Georgoutsos. 2004. “Particle breakage during shearing of a carbonate sand.” Géotechnique 54 (3): 157–163. https://doi.org/10.1680/geot.2004.54.3.157.
Diambra, A., E. Ibraim, D. Muir Wood, and A. R. Russell. 2010. “Fibre reinforced sands: Experiments and modelling.” Geotext. Geomembr. 28 (3): 238–250. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geotexmem.2009.09.010.
Einav, I. 2007. “Breakage mechanics—Part I: Theory.” J. Mech. Phys. Solids. 55 (6): 1274–1297. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmps.2006.11.003.
Estabragh, A. R., K. Soltannajad, and A. A. Javadi. 2014. “Improving piping resistance using randomly distributed fibers.” Geotext. Geomembr. 42 (1): 15–24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geotexmem.2013.12.005.
Fatahi, B., B. Fatahi, T. M. Le, and H. Khabbaz. 2013. “Small-strain properties of soft clay treated with fibre and cement.” Geosynthetics Int. 20 (4): 286–300. https://doi.org/10.1680/gein.13.00018.
Fatahi, B., H. Khabbaz, and B. Fatahi. 2012. “Mechanical characteristics of soft clay treated with fibre and cement.” Geosynthetics Int. 19 (3): 252–262. https://doi.org/10.1680/gein.12.00012.
Hardin, B. O. 1985. “Crushing of soil particles.” J. Geotech. Eng. 111 (10): 1177–1192. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9410(1985)111:10(1177).
Heineck, K. S., M. R. Coop, and N. C. Consoli. 2005. “Effect of microreinforcement of soils from very small to large shear strains.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng. 131 (8): 1024–1033. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)1090-0241(2005)131:8(1024).
Ibraim, E., A. Diambra, D. Muir Wood, and A. R. Russell. 2010. “Static liquefaction of fibre reinforced sand under monotonic loading.” Geotext. Geomembr. 28 (4): 374–385. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geotexmem.2009.12.001.
Jiang, Y., G. Wang, and T. Kamai. 2017. “Acoustic emission signature of mechanical failure: Insights from ring-shear friction experiments on granular materials.” Geophys. Res. Lett. 44 (6): 2782–2791. https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL071196.
Liu, J., G. Wang, T. Kamai, F. Zhang, J. Yang, and B. Shi. 2011. “Static liquefaction behavior of saturated fiber-reinforced sand in undrained ring-shear tests.” Geotext. Geomembr. 29 (5): 462–471. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geotexmem.2011.03.002.
Maher, M. H., and D. H. Gray. 1990. “Static response of sands reinforced with randomly distributed fibers.” J. Geotech. Eng. 116 (11): 1661–1677. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9410(1990)116:11(1661).
Miranda Pino, L. F., and B. A. Baudet. 2015. “The effect of the particle size distribution on the mechanics of fibre-reinforced sands under one-dimensional compression.” Geotext. Geomembr. 43 (3): 250–258. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geotexmem.2015.02.004.
Muir Wood, D., and K. Maeda. 2008. “Changing grading of soil: Effect on critical states.” Acta Geotech. 3 (1): 3–14. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11440-007-0041-0.
Nguyen, L., and B. Fatahi. 2016. “Behaviour of clay treated with cement & fibre while capturing cementation degradation and fibre failure—C3F model.” Int. J. Plast. 81: 168–195. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijplas.2016.01.015.
Oldecop, L. A., and E. E. Alonso. 2007. “Theoretical investigation of the time-dependent behaviour of rockfill.” Géotechnique 57 (3): 289–301. https://doi.org/10.1680/geot.2007.57.3.289.
Sadek, S., S. S. Najjar, and F. Freiha. 2010. “Shear strength of fiber-reinforced sands.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng. 136 (3): 490–499. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)GT.1943-5606.0000235.
Santoni, R. L., J. S. Tingle, and S. L. Webster. 2001. “Engineering properties of sand-fiber mixtures for road construction.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng. 127 (3): 258–268. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)1090-0241(2001)127:3(258).
Santos, A. P. S. D., N. C. Consoli, and B. A. Baudet. 2010. “The mechanics of fibre-reinforced sand.” Géotechnique 60 (10): 791–799. https://doi.org/10.1680/geot.8.P.159.
Tang, C.-S., J. Li, D.-Y. Wang, and B. Shi. 2016. “Investigation on the interfacial mechanical behavior of wave-shaped fiber reinforced soil by pullout test.” Geotext. Geomembr. 44 (6): 872–883. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geotexmem.2016.05.001.
Trade Standard of P.R. China, SL237-010. 1999. “Standard method for testing the relative density of soil.” [In Chinese.] In Specification of Soil Test. Beijing: The Ministry of Water Resources of P.R. China.
Wang, X.-Z., Y.-Y. Jiao, R. Wang, M. J. Hu, Q.-S. Meng, and F.-Y. Tan. 2011. “Engineering characteristics of the calcareous sand in Nansha Islands, South China Sea.” Eng. Geol. 120 (1–4): 40–47. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2011.03.011.
Wei, H., T. Zhao, J. He, Q. Meng, and X. Wang. 2018. “Evolution of particle breakage for calcareous sands during ring shear tests.” Int. J. Geomech. 18 (2): 04017153. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)GM.1943-5622.0001073.
Wu, Y., N. Yoshimoto, M. Hyodo, and Y. Nakata. 2014. “Evaluation of crushing stress at critical state of granulated coal ash in triaxial test.” Géotech. Lett. 4 (4): 337–342. https://doi.org/10.1680/geolett.14.00066.
Yetimoglu, T., and O. Salbas. 2003. “A study on shear strength of sands reinforced with randomly distributed discrete fibers.” Geotext. Geomembr. 21 (2): 103–110. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0266-1144(03)00003-7.
Yu, F. 2017a. “Particle breakage and the drained shear behavior of sands.” Int. J. Geomech. 17 (8): 04017041. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)GM.1943-5622.0000919.
Yu, F. W. 2017b. “Particle breakage and the critical state of sands.” Géotechnique 67 (8): 713–719. https://doi.org/10.1680/jgeot.15.P.250.
Zhang, S., C.-X. Tong, X. Li, and D. Sheng. 2015. “A new method for studying the evolution of particle breakage.” Géotechnique 65 (11): 911–922. https://doi.org/10.1680/jgeot.14.P.240.
Zhonghui. 2016. “A test report of polypropylene fibers.” [In Chinese.] Zhengzhou, P.R. China: Zhonghui Chemical Products Co. Ltd.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
© 2018 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jan 30, 2018
Accepted: May 30, 2018
Published online: Oct 5, 2018
Published in print: Dec 1, 2018
Discussion open until: Mar 5, 2019
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.