Enhanced performance of reinforced soil walls by the inclusion of short fiber

This paper presents the effects of the inclusion of short fiber in sandy silt (SM) soil on the performance of reinforced walls. The inclusion of short fiber in soil is expected to increase soil strength and improve stability when it is used as the backfill material. Short fiber of 60 mm length was used and the mixing ratio of the fiber was 0.2% by weight of the soil. The finite element method was used to examine the influence of the reinforced short fiber on reinforced walls. The vertical and horizontal earth pressure, displacement and settlement of the wall face were analyzed. These results were compared to the measured results from two full-scale tests. It is shown that use of short fiber reinforced soil increases the stability of the wall and decreases the earth pressures and displacements of the wall. This effect is more significant when short fiber soil is used in combination with geogrid.