Fiber reinforcement effects on sand considering a wide cementation range

This paper describes laboratory drained standard triaxial tests conducted on artificially cemented Osorio sand specimens reinforced with randomly oriented discrete extensible polypropylene fibers. Cemented specimens were prepared with cement contents varying from 0% to 10% by weight of dry sand and cured for seven days. Fiber length and diameter were 24 mm and 0.023 mm, respectively, in the contents of 0% and 0.5% by weight of dry sand–cement mixture. Test results indicated that the addition of cement to sand increases stiffness, peak strength and brittleness. Both cement and fiber insertions affect dramatically the stress–dilatancy behavior of the sand. The fiber reinforcement increases peak strength just up to a certain cement content (up to about 5% in the present study), increases ultimate strength, decreases stiffness and changes the cemented sand brittle behavior to a more ductile one. The triaxial peak strength increase due to fiber inclusion is more effective for smaller amounts of cement, while the increase in ultimate strength is more efficacious when fiber is added to sand improved with higher cement contents. Peak strength envelopes indicate that the friction angle is about 46° for fiber-reinforced specimens containing up to 7% cement content, reaching 51.5° for higher cement contents. Cohesion intercept is drastically affected due to fiber addition to all cement contents, increasing for cement contents up to 4% and reducing for higher cement contents. It is important to make clear that the trends observed herein are relevant for the soil, cement and fiber type used in the present research and that further studies are necessary to generalize such findings.