Shear Strength Behavior of Soils Reinforced with Weak Fibers
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 145, Issue 9
Abstract
Soils reinforced with randomly distributed fibers will have higher shear strength and improved mechanical properties compared to unreinforced soil. Most of the previous research on fiber reinforcement focused on the behavior when the governing mode of failure is the pullout of fibers from a fiber matrix. In recent years, fibers with relatively low tensile strength (e.g., fibers made from recycled products or natural plant fibers) have been considered for soil reinforcement, but their mechanical response has not been studied extensively. In this paper, an experimental testing program is conducted using intentionally selected weak fibers (paper strip). The intention is not to demonstrate the usage of paper fibers as a reinforcement material, but to study the stress-strain behavior and shear strength envelope of fiber-reinforced soil when the governing mode of failure is fiber breakage.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
Consoli, N. C., K. S. Heineck, M. D. T. Casagrande, and M. R. Coop. 2007. “Shear strength behavior of fiber-reinforced sand considering triaxial tests under distinct stress paths.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng. 133 (11): 1466–1469. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)1090-0241(2007)133:11(1466).
Gray, D. H., and T. Al-Refeai. 1986. “Behavior of fabric-versus fiber-reinforced sand.” J. Geotech. Eng. 112 (8): 804–820. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9410(1986)112:8(804).
Gray, D. H., and H. Ohashi. 1983. “Mechanics of fiber-reinforcement in sand.” J. Geotech. Eng. 109 (3): 335–353. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9410(1983)109:3(335).
Li, C. 2005. Mechanical response of fiber-reinforced soil. Ph.D. dissertation, Dept. of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, Univ. of Texas at Austin.
Li, C., and J. G. Zornberg. 2013. “Mobilization of reinforcement forces in fiber-reinforced soil.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng. 139 (1): 107–115. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)GT.1943-5606.0000745.
Maher, M. H., and D. H. Gray. 1990. “Static response of sand reinforced with randomly distributed fibers.” J. Geotech. Eng. 116 (11): 1661–1677. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9410(1990)116:11(1661).
Michalowski, R. L., and J. Čermák. 2003. “Triaxial compression of sand reinforced with fibers.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng. 129 (2): 125–136. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)1090-0241(2003)129:2(125).
Michalowski, R. L., and A. G. Zhao. 1996. “Failure of fiber-reinforced granular soils.” J. Geotech. Eng. 122 (3): 226–234. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9410(1996)122:3(226).
Nataraj, M. S., and K. L. McManis. 1997. “Strength and deformation properties of soils reinforced with fibrillated fibers.” Geosynthetics Int. 4 (1): 65–79. https://doi.org/10.1680/gein.4.0089.
Prabakar, J., and R. S. Sridhar. 2002. “Effect of random inclusion of sisal fibre on strength behaviour of soil.” Constr. Build. Mater. 16 (2): 123–131. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0950-0618(02)00008-9.
Sivakumar Babu, G. L., and A. K. Vasudevan. 2008. “Strength and stiffness response of coir fiber-reinforced tropical soil.” J. Mater. Civ. Eng. 20 (9): 571–577. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0899-1561(2008)20:9(571).
Tang, C., B. Shi, W. Gao, F. Chen, and Y. Cai. 2007. “Strength and mechanical behavior of short polypropylene fiber reinforced and cement stabilized clayey soil.” Geotext. Geomembr. 25 (3): 194–202. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geotexmem.2006.11.002.
Tang, C. S., B. Shi, Y. J. Cui, C. Liu, and K. Gu. 2012. “Desiccation cracking behavior of polypropylene fiber-reinforced clayey soil.” Can. Geotech. J. 49 (9): 1088–1101. https://doi.org/10.1139/t2012-067.
Tang, C. S., B. Shi, and L. Z. Zhao. 2010. “Interfacial shear strength of fiber reinforced soil.” Geotext. Geomembr. 28 (1): 54–62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geotexmem.2009.10.001.
Wang, Y. 1999. “Utilization of recycled carpet waste fibers for reinforcement of concrete and soil.” Polym. Plast. Technol. Eng. 38 (3): 533–546. https://doi.org/10.1080/03602559909351598.
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.
Zornberg, J. G. 2002. “Discrete framework for limit equilibrium analysis of fiber- reinforced soil.” Géotechnique 52 (8): 593–604. https://doi.org/10.1680/geot.2002.52.8.593.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 145 • Issue 9 • September 2019
Copyright
©2019 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: May 1, 2018
Accepted: Mar 15, 2019
Published online: Jun 26, 2019
Published in print: Sep 1, 2019
Discussion open until: Nov 26, 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.