Experimental Investigation on the Variation in Shear Strength of Clayey Soil Reinforced with Randomly Distributed Alkali-Resistant Glass Fiber

Abstract

Geotechnical investigations are one of the most crucial part of the constructions in order to save the time and effort spent on the projects. Particularly, in case of the clays with high plasticity are encountered in the analysis of bearing capacity and settlement of structures such as buildings, roads and dams governs the design. The possible solutions can be leaving the land, reaching a strong soil by passing the weak one, removing the weak soil by replacing it with a higher strength material, and applying soil improvement methods. Glass fibers are one of the synthetic additives which may be used to address improving the weak soil properties. In this study, the effect of alkaline resistant glass fiber additive on the undrained shear strength of the clayey soils was investigated. Fibers with distinct lengths were added to the natural soil at the increasing rates and the mixtures were prepared in the optimum water content. The prepared mixtures were compacted in a compaction mold with a diameter of, a diameter of 5 cm and a height of 10 cm with standard energy. A total of 210 cylindrical samples, 10 of natural clay and 200 of fiber reinforced, were tested for unconfined compression test (UC). The maximum increase was at 0.5% of fiber blend of 40 mm length. As a result of 210 UC tests, it was observed that the glass fiber additive with high alkali resistance increased the shear strength of the clay soil.

Increasing Strength of Clay Soils with the Use of Basalt Fiber: An Experimental Study

“…Artificial fibers are preferred because they have high strength, are light, flexible and highly resistant to environmental effects [2]. Glass fiber [3][4][5][6][7][8], polypropylene fiber [8][9][10][11][12] and carbon fiber [13] are used as reinforcement in several studies and studies using these fibers as reinforcement stated that improvements in soil properties occurred.…”