Performance Evaluation of Human Hair Fiber Reinforcement on Lime or Cement Stabilized Clayey-Sand

Abstract

Earthen masonry is generally brittle, weak and susceptible to water ingress damage. Several techniques of earthen masonry stabilization and reinforcement are available for improving their overall engineering properties. However, the inclusion of fiber into soils has a unique advantage. This is because friction between fibers and soil particles increases bonding between the particles. The present study attempts to investigate the resultant strength and ductility behavior when 0.5%, 1% and 2% randomly distributed human hair fibers are used to reinforce both cemented and un-cemented clayey-sand (50% sand and 50% bentonite) soils. The composite soils were tested under laboratory conditions and examined for compaction and unconfined compression strength (UCS) tests. The experimental results show that stress-strain behavior, failure, and strength characteristics of clayey-sand improved with inclusion of fibers. However, the effect of fiber reinforcement is more significant with stabilized clayey sand compared with the control soil mixture. Based on the compressive strength , the cement stabilization had better strength with bentonite clayey sand (50% sand and 50% bentonite) compared to the lime treatment. Addition of cement and lime affected dry density , optimum moisture content, and failure strain of the clayey-sand.