EFFECT OF LENGTH OF POLYPROPYLENE FIBER REINFORCED SAND ON LOAD SETTLEMENT CHARACTERISTIC OF MODEL FOOTINGS

R.Sridhar

Abstract: Reinforced earth uses frictional soil reinforced with various forms of reinforcement in the form of bars mats, fibers etc. ‘Ply soil’ which is formed introducing randomly distributed fibers which results in comparatively more homogeneous soil mixture is one of the popular method of soil stabilization. In situations such as foundations on soft compressible stratum, deep foundation is generally recommended which increases cost of the structure. In the present study, direct shear test was conducted with various polypropylene fiber percentages in dry sand to determine the optimum percentage of fiber that gives large value of shear parameters. Loose soil deposit was simulated by compacting saw dust in prefabricated steel tank. Sand reinforced with optimum percentage of polypropylene fibers has been compacted at a relative density of 70%, over loose sawdust and bearing capacity of reinforced sand has determined at various H/B ratios and for different sized model footings, by conducting load settlement tests. A comparative study on the effect of length of the polypropylene fiber on the behavior of model footing has been studied.. The trend in results indicated that the BCR values obtained for H/B = 0.5 is maximum which decreases with increase in H/B ratio. Provision of reinforced sand layer of higher H/B ratio reduces in settlement significantly.

Keywords: Ply Soil, Model Footing, Polypropylene Fiber

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15623/ijret.2016.0507022