Interfacial shear strength of fiber reinforced soil

The interfacial mechanical interaction between the reinforcement and soil matrix is a key factor in controlling the engineering properties of reinforced soil. To evaluate the factors affecting the interfacial strength properties of polypropylene fiber (PP-fiber) reinforced soil, single fiber pull-out tests were performed by using a modified special apparatus. It has been found that the designed pull-out test is an efficient method to qualitatively obtain the interfacial peak strength (IPS) and interfacial residual strength (IRS) of fiber/soil. Both the IPS and IRS decrease with water content increase, while increase with increasing soil dry density. The cement inclusions dramatically improve the interfacial shear strength of fiber/soil, and the IPS and IRS increase with an increase in additives content and curing time. Finally, by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), the micromechanical interaction behavior between soil particles and fiber reinforcement were discussed. The interfacial shear resistance of fiber/soil depends primarily on the rearrangement resistance of soil particles, effective interface contact area, fiber surface roughness and soil compositions, etc. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.