Shear strength of polypropylene fibre reinforced clay

Addition of fibres has been recently studied as an effective method to enhance soil. To investigate the reinforcing effect of fibres on the shear strength of soil, polypropylene fibres are added into clay sample and the shear strength of clay is measured. Four different fibre contents and fibre lengths are used. The experimental results indicate that fibre content of 0.3% and fibre length of 9 mm is the optimum mix ratio. A dispersion coefficient beta is proposed based on the statistical analysis on the number of fibres at a fractured interface of a test specimen. Effective fibre content and length are also proposed and further analyzed on the basis of fibres with different contents and lengths. Better fitting results are obtained by combining dispersion coefficient, effective length and fibre content. In addition, the cohesion of fibre-reinforced clay increases with an increase in the dispersion coefficient beta and the effective length of fibre.

Automated summary

Recent studies have shown that adding 0.3% polypropylene fibers with a length of 9 mm to soil can effectively enhance its shear strength. Analysis on factors such as fiber quantity, length, and dispersion coefficient has led to the proposal of effective fiber content and length for improving cohesion in fiber-reinforced clay.