Split tensile strength of monofilament polypropylene fiber-reinforced cemented sandy soils

ABSTRACT: The present research aims to quantify the influence of the amount of cement, the porosity, and the voids/cement ratio in assessment of the split tensile strength (q_t) of a sandy soil when reinforced and non-reinforced with fibers. A series of split tensile tests were carried out in the present work. The results show that fiber insertion in the cemented soil, for the whole range of cement studied, causes an increase in split tensile strength. The split tensile strength (q_t) increased linearly with the amount of cement (C), and a power function fits well as the relation between split tensile strength (q_t) and porosity (η) for both the fiber-reinforced and non-reinforced specimens. It was also shown that the voids/cement ratio, in which volumetric cementitious material content is adjusted by an exponent (0.28 for both the fiber-reinforced and non-reinforced cemented soil mixtures) to result in unique correlations for each mixture, is a good parameter in the evaluation of the split tensile strength of the fiber-reinforced and non-reinforced cemented soil studied. This experimental framework will enable a good definition of mechanical parameters used in the design of foundations and subgrades of roads and railways platform (whose system failure mechanisms usually start under tensile stresses at the base of the improved layer) and for their execution quality control.