Abstract
Inclusion of natural fibers (sisal, curauá, coco fiber and others) for soil improvement has been the study object in diverse geotechnical areas and it is a topic of growing interest, within the research area of new geotechnical materials. The state of the art in this subject highlights excellent results as soil strength parameters improve and post-cracking strength (toughness) increase. Soil reinforcement technique with fibers is established in the technology of composite materials, this being a combination of two or more materials presenting properties that the component materials do not possess on their own. The aim of this paper is to study the mechanical behaviour of sand-fiber composite by inserting natural curauá fibers into a sandy matrix, with different fiber contents. The fibers were randomly distributed in the soil mass. The experimental program included physical and mechanical characterization of the composites, using full-scale direct shear tests, with samples measuring 30 x 30 cm and 15 cm high. Direct shear tests were carried out using fibers with 25 mm length and 0.5 and 0.75% fiber content (relative to the soil dry weight). The specimens also presented a relative density of 50% and moisture content of 10%. It was sought to establish a pattern behaviour so that the addition of curauá fiber influence can be explained, thus, comparing with the sandy soil shear strength parameters. Inclusion of natural curauá fibers as soil reinforcement presented satisfactory results, as an increase in the soil shear strength parameters was observed when compared with sandy soil results.
Highlights
The application of alternative materials for the reinforcement of soils is a growing theme of interest in the various areas of engineering
The curauá fibers were cut in lengths of 25 mm, varying the fiber contents in 0.5 and 0.75%
This research presented the analysis of the mechanical behaviour of a sandy soil reinforced with natural fiber of curauá through direct shear tests in true magnitude
Summary
The application of alternative materials for the reinforcement of soils is a growing theme of interest in the various areas of engineering. Mostly of vegetal origin (organic), present inconstant physical characteristics (diameter and length), but still provide good results as soil reinforcement. Those fibers are subject to biological degradation. Several authors have reported in their work some changes that occur in the mechanical behaviour of fiber-reinforced soils [6, 7, 11, 12, 15]. These changes are related to compaction, shear strength, deformability, rupture mode, volumetric variation, initial stiffness and hydraulic conductivity
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