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Study on Strength Influence Mechanism of Fiber-Reinforced Expansive Soil Using Jute

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Abstract

This study was undertaken to research the effects of jute fiber content, fiber length, water content and dry density of reinforced and unreinforced soil on the strength influence mechanism by implementing a series of laboratory tests and analysis. The most efficient fiber reinforcement effects was achieved by means of adding jute fiber with content of 0.6 % and length of 6 mm into expansive soil specimen prepared at maximum dry density and optimum moisture content. The cohesion of reinforced specimens increased first with increasing fiber content and fiber length and then decreased with further increase in fiber content and fiber length. The internal friction angle of reinforced specimens were not affected significantly by fiber content and fiber length. Higher water content reduces the fiber reinforcement effects by means of acting as lubricant in the interface of fiber and soil particles. Fiber reinforcement effects is more prominent for specimens prepared at higher dry density by increasing the effective contact area of fiber/soil. The application prospect of soil reinforcement using natural fiber is impeded by the hydrophilic nature and biodegradability of natural fiber, thus, studies on using chemical additive to do surface treatment for natural fiber are needed to improve the interfacial interaction of fiber/soil so as to widen the application of natural fiber.

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Acknowledgments

The study presented in this paper was jointly supported by the China National Natural Science Foundation (51304057, 51308164), the Science and Technology Plan Project of Wuhan City Urban and Rural Commission (201620), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Hefei key Project Construction Administration (2013CGAZ0771).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Civil Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, 230009, China

    Wang Yixian, Guo Panpan, Shan Shengbiao & Yuan Haiping

  2. School of Civil and Transportation Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510006, China

    Yuan Binxiang

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  1. Wang Yixian
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  2. Guo Panpan
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  3. Shan Shengbiao
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  4. Yuan Haiping
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  5. Yuan Binxiang
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Correspondence to Wang Yixian or Yuan Haiping.

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Yixian, W., Panpan, G., Shengbiao, S. et al. Study on Strength Influence Mechanism of Fiber-Reinforced Expansive Soil Using Jute. Geotech Geol Eng 34, 1079–1088 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10706-016-0028-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10706-016-0028-4

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