Combined Effect of Layers Number and the Glass Fiber Type on the Shear Strength Characteristics of Chlef sandy soil

Abstract

The present study is dedicated to investigate the effects of the layers’ number and the type of fiber on the shear strength characteristics of Chlef silty sand. A series of 30 direct shear tests, by considering the number of layers and the types of glass fiber, subjected to three normal stresses 100, 200 and 300 kPa for loose and medium densities is presented. The test results showed that the presence of glass fibers contributed toward achieving a clear improvement on the shear strength of testing sand, with increasing normal stress, relative density and number of layers of both types of glass fibers. For all the performed tests, the optimum shear resistances were obtained with the medium dense sand reinforced with two layers of woven roving glass fiber type. In the point of view of the intrinsic characteristics of the composites, the inclusion of the glass fiber layers shows an increase in the cohesion intercept and the friction angle of the Chlef sand for both loose and medium dense sand states.