Effect of the type of soil on the cyclic behaviour of chemically stabilised soils unreinforced and reinforced with polypropylene fibres

This work examines the effect of cyclic loading on the behaviour of five different soils chemically stabilized with Portland cement that were both non-reinforced and reinforced with polypropylene fibres. The inclusion of fibres in the composite material has a positive effect on the cyclic behaviour, decreasing the accumulated permanent axial strain, while the increase in the amount of clay/silt particles and the organic matter content has a detrimental effect. The effect of the cyclic stage on the mechanical characteristics is evaluated comparing the results of unconfined compression strength tests carried out without and after the cyclic loading. The experimental results show that the cyclic stage induces an increase in the unconfined compressive strength and stiffness and this effect is greater for the unreinforced stabilized soils. The inclusion of fibres in the stabilized soil tends to increase the strength for materials with a low level of stabilization, having the opposite effect for stiffer materials.