DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

SEMINAR REPORT

Submitted in partial fulfillment for the award of

Diploma in Civil Engineering during the academic year 2024 – 2025

Submitted By:
SOORAJ V V
2201012430

Under the guidance of

RESHMI
Lecturer in Civil Engineering

Academic Year: 2024-25

STATE BOARD OF TECHNICAL EDUCATION

GOVERNMENT OF KERALA
 VISION AND MISSION OF THE INSTITUTE

VISION

Be a premier technical institution of academic excellence by imparting value based

professional education with social responsibility.

MISSION
 To produce self-motivated, skilled professionals of academic excellence.
 To provide value oriented quality technical education through innovative teaching –
learning process.
 To equip students to be responsible professionals for the betterment of society.
 VISION AND MISSION OF CIVIL ENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT

VISION
Emerge as a department of excellence to produce technically competent and ethically
strong Civil Engineering Professionals for serving the industrial and societal needs.

MISSION
 To prepare the students to excel in their profession with technical expertise 
 To provide conducive learning environment to mould civil engineers of high
standard 
 To develop professional responsibility among students to uphold ethical values and
principles of sustainable development 
 PROGRAM OUTCOMES (POs)

1. Basic and Discipline specific knowledge: Apply knowledge of basic mathematics,

science and engineering fundamentals and engineering specialization to solve the
engineering problems.

2. Problem analysis: Identify and analyze well defined engineering problems using coding
standard methods.

3. Design/ development of solutions: Design solutions for well-defined technical

problems and assist with design of systems components or processes to meet specified
needs.

4. Engineering Tools, Experimentations and Testing: Apply modern engineering tools

and appropriate technique to conduct standard tests and measurements.

5. Engineering practices for society, sustainability and environment: Apply

appropriate technology in context of society, sustainability, environment and ethical
practices.

6. Project Management: Use engineering principles individually, as a team member or a

leader to manage projects and effectively communicate about well-defined engineering
activities.

7. Life-long learning: Ability to analyse individual needs and engage in updating in the
context of technological changes.
 PROGRAM SPECIFIC OUTCOMES (PSOs)

PSO 1: FIELD PRACTICE AND SOCIAL WORTH: Apply the acquired knowledge
of civil engineering in field practice for betterment of society

PSO 2: SUCCESSFUL CAREER AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP: Apply knowledge

and understanding of engineering principles to excel in career or entrepreneurship

PROGRAM EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES (PEOs)

PEO-I: Shall excel in Industry, in higher studies, research and as entrepreneurs.

PEO-II: Shall acquire profound knowledge in Civil and allied engineering leading towards
innovation and creativity in solving societal problems.

PEO-III: Shall have good communication skills, interpersonal skills, managerial skills,
leadership skills, ethical values and understand the need for lifelong learning.
 COURSE OUTCOMES
CO 1 Demonstrate presentation skills.
CO 2 Develop technical paper using open-source tools.
Ability to assimilate advancements in engineering technology /
CO 3 commercial practice/management

CO – PO MAPPING
COURSE PO1 PO2 PO3 PO4 PO5 PO6 PO7 PSO1 PSO2
OUTCOMES
CO 1 3
CO 2 2 3
CO 3 3
 BONAFIDE CERTIFICATE
Certified that this is a bonafide record of the seminar report presented by SOORAJ & 2201012430 of
the final year Civil Engineering Department of KMCT ITM , Kuttippuram in partial fulfilment of the
requirement for the award of The Diploma Certificate of the State Board of Technical Education,
Government of Kerala.

Mr. VIJAY KESAVAN RESHMI

Head of Department Seminar Guide
Department of Civil Engineering Department of Civil Engineering

Place: Kuttippuram
Date:

INTERNAL EXAMINER EXTERNAL EXAMINER

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I express my sincere gratitude to RESHMI for the expert guidance and advice in presenting the
seminar report.

I wish to convey our gratefulness to Mr.P.H. SUBAIR (Principal, KMCT ITM , Kuttippuram) for his
strong support and motivation towards a great level of success in our career.

I express my sincere thanks to Mr. VIJAY KESAVAN (Head of Department, Civil Engineering) for
the kind co-operation, encouragement and help.

I would also wish to record my gratefulness to all my friends and classmates for their help and support
in carrying out this work successfully.

I thank God Almighty for blessing me in completing the project.

SOORAJ V
V2201012430
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

No Contents Pg No

1 .INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................... 1
2.GROUND MODIFICATION BY INCLUSIONS AND CONFINEMENT (SOILREINFORCEMENT) ...... 3
3.FIBER-REINFORCED SOIL .......................................................................................................................... 4
3.1. Definition............................................................................................................................................... 4
3.2. Classification ......................................................................................................................................... 4
3.3 Brief history ................................................................................................................................................ 5
4.CASE STUDIES OF FIBERS .......................................................................................................................... 6
4.1 NATURAL FIBERS .............................................................................................................................. 6
4.2. SYNTHETIC (MAN-MADE) FIBERS ................................................................................................ 11
5.AMPLE PREPARATION .............................................................................................................................. 19
6.MTERIALS PROPERTIES AND EXPERIMENTAL STUDY .................................................................... 20
6.1 Soil sample........................................................................................................................................... 20
6.2 Pyrus fibers .......................................................................................................................................... 20
6.3 Shear test.............................................................................................................................................. 20
6.4 Consolidation and settlement ................................................................................................................ 21
8.APPLICATIONS ............................................................................................................................................ 24
8.1Pavement layers .......................................................................................................................................... 24
8.2 Retaining walls and railway embankments ............................................................................................ 24
8.3 Protection of slopes and foundation engineering ................................................................................... 25
8.4 Earthquake engineering ........................................................................................................................ 26
9.RESEARCH WORKS FOR FUTURE .......................................................................................................... 27
10.ADVANTAGES ............................................................................................................................................ 28
11.DISADVANTAGES...................................................................................................................................... 29
12.CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................................. 30
13. REFERENCE .............................................................................................................................................. 32
 TABLE OF FIGURES

Fig NO: Figure Name Page NO:

1 presents a summary of ground or site improvement 2

2 Ground modification methods based 2

3 Ziggurats in Iraq 3

4 Different procedures of soil reinforcement 12

5 Specimen deformation pattern 13

6 SEM photomicrograph of soil particles attached on fiber 13

7 Papyrus before drying and crushing 20

 ABSTRACT

Construction of building and other civil engineering structures on weak or soft soil is highly risky because
such soil is susceptible to differential settlements, poor shear strength, and high compressibility. Various soil
improvement techniques have been used to enhance the engineering properties of soil. Soil reinforcement by
fiber material is considered an effective ground improvement method because of its cost effectiveness, easy
adaptability, and reproducibility. Hence, in the present investigation, papyrus fiber has been chosen as the
reinforcement material, and it was randomly included into the soil at four different percentages of fiber
content, i.e., 5, 10, 15, 25% by volume of raw soil. The main objective of this research is to focus on the
strength behavior of soil reinforced with randomly included papyrus fiber. Direct shear, consolidation, and
displacement tests were performed on papyrusreinforced specimens with various fiber contents. The results
of these tests have clearly shown a significant improvement in the failure deviator stress and shear strength
parameters (c and φ) of the studied soil with a percent addition of 10% (the preferred percent). Moreover, this
addition ratio reduced the displacement of the soil under loading. It can be concluded that papyrus fiber can
be considered an appropriate soil reinforcement material.
SEMINAR REPORT 2024-2025 FIBERS REINFORCED SOIL

1.INTRODUCTION

Most buildings and other civil engineering construction projects are started as raw land. The first step to
be performed is site investigation in order to know the situation of the site. It is difficult to find location
that has perfect soil properties. Possible alternative solutions to solve this reality are:

 Avoid that site. Relocate the planned construction project to another site.
 Replace unsuitable soils. After obtaining the soil properties, it can be determined the
soils are unsuitable, then remove with the better soils.
 Try to modify the existing soil. This is called as ground modification.

Hausmann (1990) distinguished the ground improvement or modification or stabilization into four groups,
they are:
Mechanical modification. External mechanical forces are used to increase soil density, including soil
compaction by using many methods, such as static compaction, dynamic compaction, or deep compaction
by heavy tamping.
Hydraulic modification. Pore-water is forced out of the ground through drains or wells. Lowering the
groundwater level by pumping from trenches or boreholes can be applied for coarse-grained or
cohesionless soil, and for fine-grained or cohesive soil, application of the long-term of external pressure
(preloading) or electrical loads (electrokinetic stabilization) is needed. Another technique can be applied
such as hydraulic modification is by using geosynthetics.
Physical and chemical modification. One example of this method is soil stabilization by physically
mixing/blending additives with top layers at depth. Additives can be natural soils, industrial by-products
or waste materials, and other chemical materials that can react with the ground. Other applications are
ground modification by grouting and thermal modifications which are already discussed before.
Modification by inclusions and confinement. This group is considered as strengthening soil by materials,
such as meshes, bars, strips, fibers, and fabrics correspond to the tensile strength. Confining site with
concrete, steel, or fabric elements can also form stable-earth retaining structures. Conventional pile
foundations are not considered in this group, although sometimes they are called as “compressive

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SEMINAR REPORT 2024-2025 FIBERS REINFORCED SOIL

reinforcement”. This is because the principal purpose of pile foundation is not strengthening the soil, but
to send the load to a stronger or greater depth stratum.
Soil reinforcement, as one of ground improvement methods, is a process of using synthetic or natural

additive materials to improve the soil characteristics or properties. There are some reinforcement
techniques to handle problematic soils. Hence, the ground reinforcement techniques can be divided into
some categories with different points of view. Figure 1 shows different scheme of ground improvement,
especially site or ground reinforcement .

Figure 1. Several methods of soil reinforcement

Figure 2 presents a summary of ground or site improvement methods based on soil grain size.

Figure 2. Ground modification methods based on soil grain size

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SEMINAR REPORT 2024-2025 FIBERS REINFORCED SOIL

2.GROUND MODIFICATION BY INCLUSIONS AND CONFINEMENT

(SOILREINFORCEMENT)

Reinforced soil is originally defined as a soil which is strengthened by a material able to resist tensile
stresses and which interacts with the soil through friction and/or adhesion. Subsequently, the meaning of
soil reinforcement was broadened, and this term is now also used for other mechanical and structural
methods of soil improvement, such as compressive reinforcement by confinement and encapsulation
(Hausmann, 1990).
The main purpose of soil reinforcement is to increase the stability or soil strength (Bayormy et al., 2007;
Liu et al., 2014; Abdi and Zandieh, 2014; Lajevardi et al., 2014), improve bearing capacity and reduce
settlements and lateral deformation. The wider definition of soil reinforcement also includes erosion
control methods and stress transfer via anchors and piles. This term becomes complicated since many
materials used to improve engineering properties of soil, for example geotextiles that can be used for
multiple purposes (e.g., strengthen structural behavior, control groundwater flow and separate different
soil layers during construction). Another material is even from the root and natural geotextiles from
Bamboo, that it can also increase strength of the soil structures (Datye and Gore, 1994; Muntohar, 2012;
Cazzuffi et al., 2014).
Soil reinforcement is not a new concept. The ancient ziggurats (Figure 3) found in Iraq, which are more
than 3000 years old is one of early examples of soil reinforcement application. Reed-reinforced earth
levees were constructed along the Tiber River by the Romans. The modern uses of soil reinforcement
appeared in the 1960s with the development of Reinforced Earth retaining walls and geotextile
stabilization of haul roads and access roads .

Figure 3. Ziggurats in Iraq

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3.FIBER-REINFORCED SOIL

3.1. Definition

The standard fiber-reinforced soil is defined as a soil mass that contains randomly distributed, discrete
elements, i.e. fibers, which provide an improvement in the mechanical behavior of the soil composite.
Fiber reinforced soil behaves as a composite material in which fibers of relatively high tensile strength are
embedded in a matrix of soil. Shear stresses in the soil mobilize tensile resistance in the fibers, which in
turn imparts greater strength to the soil. Mainly, the use of random discrete flexible fibers mimics the
behavior of plant roots and contributes to the stability of soil mass by adding strength to the near-surface
soils in which the effective stress is low. In this way, laboratory and some in situ pilot test results have led
to encouraging conclusions proving the poten- tial use of fibers for the reinforcement of soil mass
providing an artificial replication of the effects of vegetation.

3.2. Classification

A comprehensive literature review shows that short fiber soil composite can be considered as a coin with
two sides. One side includes the randomly direct inclusion of fibers into the matrix, i.e. soil mass. Another
side comprises the oriented fibrous materials, e.g. Geo-Synthetics family It is emphasized that the former
concept is not as well-known as the second, not only in optimizing fiber properties, fiber diameter, length,
surface texture, etc., but also in reinforcing mechanism .
McGown et al. classified soil reinforcement into two major cat- egories including ideally inextensible
versus ideally extensible inclusions. The former includes high modulus metal strips that strengthens soil
and inhibits both internal and boundary deforma- tions. Catastrophic failure and collapse of soil can occur
if rein- forcement breaks. Ideally extensible inclusions include relatively low modulus natural and/or
synthetic fibers, plant roots; and geosynthetics. They provide some strengthening but more impor- tantly
they present greater extensibility (ductility); and smaller loss of post-peak strength compared to the neat
soil

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3.3 Brief history

The stabilization of soils has been performed for millennia. For instance, the Mesopotamians and Romans
separately discovered that it was possible to improve the ability of pathways to carry traffic by mixing the
weak soils with a stabilizing agent like pulver- ized limestone or calcium.
Alternatively, the presence of plant roots is a natural means of incorporating randomly oriented fiber
inclusions in the soils. These plant fibers improve the strength of the soils and the stability of natural
slopes. Therefore, the concept of fiber reinforce- ment was recognized more than 5000 years ago. For
example, an- cient civilizations used straw and hay to reinforce mud blocks in order to create reinforced
building blocks. There are several examples of reinforcing the soil like Great Wall of China (earliest
example of reinforced earth using branches of trees as tensile elements), ziggurats of Babylon (woven
mats of read were used), etc..
In the modern history of soil stabilization, the concept and principle of soil reinforcement was first
developed by Vidal. He demonstrated that the introduction of reinforcing elements in a soil mass increases
the shear resistance of the medium. Consequently, efforts for using fibrous materials, as mimicry of the
past, were started. Since the invention by Vidal in 1966, nearly 4000 structures have been built in more
than 37 countries so far using the concept of earth reinforcement.
Firstly, polyester filaments before staple fibers entered to the geotechnical engineering market under the
traditional brand of ‘‘Texsol’’. This product was used in retaining walls and for slope protections.
However, randomly distributed fiber-reinforced soils, known as short fiber soil composites, have recently
attracted increasing attention in many geotechnical engineering applica- tions, not only in scientific research
environment, but also at exec- utive real field. Synthetic staple fibers have been used in soil since the late 1980s,
when the initial studies using polymeric fibers were conducted.
At final, it can be concluded that the concept of reinforcing soil with natural fibers was originated in
ancient times. However, short natural and synthetic fiber soil composites have recently attracted increasing
attention in geotechnical engineering for the second time. Therefore, they are still a relatively new
technique in geotechnical projects.

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4.CASE STUDIES OF FIBERS

4.1 NATURAL FIBERS

At the present time, there is a greater awareness that landfills are filling up, resources are being used up,
the planet is being pol- luted and that non-renewable resources will not last forever. So, there is a need to
more environmentally friendly materials. That is why there have been many experimental investigations
and a great deal of interest has been created world wide on potential applications of natural fibers for soil
reinforcement in recent years. The term ‘‘eco-composite’’ shows the importance role of natural fibers in
the modern industry.
Mainly, what part of the plant the fiber came from, the age of the plant; and how the fiber was isolated,
are some of the factors which affect the performance of natural fibers in a natural fiber- reinforced soil.
It is necessary to mention that natural fibers have been used for a long time in many developing countries
in cement composites and earth blocks because of their availability and low cost. At this point, some
natural fibers and their features in soil projects are briefly described:

4.1.1 Coconut (coir) fiber

The outer covering of fibrous material of a matured coconut, termed coconut husk, is the reject of coconut
fruit. The fibers are normally 50–350 mm long and consist mainly of lignin, tannin, cel- lulose, pectin and
other water soluble substances. However, due to its high lignin content, coir degradation takes place much
more slowly than in other natural fibers. So, the fiber is also very long lasting, with infield service life of
4–10 years. The water absorption of that is about 130–180% and diameter is about 0.1–0.6 mm. Coir
retains much of its tensile strength when wet. It has low tenacity but the elongation is much higher. The
degradation of coir depends on the medium of embedment, the climatic condi- tions and is found to retain
80% of its tensile strength after 6 months of embedment in clay. Coir geo-textiles are presently available
with wide ranges of properties which can be economi cally utilized for temporary reinforcement purposes
[47]. Mainly, coir fiber shows better resilient response against synthetic fibers by higher coefficient of
friction. For instance, findings show that coir fiber exhibits greater enhancements (47.50%) in resilient
mod- ulus or strength of the soil than the synthetic one (40.0%) [48]. Ayyar et al. and Viswanadham have

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reported about the efficacy of randomly distributed coir fibers in reducing the swelling tendency of the
soil.
Ravishankar and Raghavan confirmed that for coir-stabilized lateritic soils, the maximum dry density
(MDD) of the soil de- creases with addition of coir and the value of optimum moisture content (OMC) of
the soil increases with an increase in percentage of coir. The compressive strength of the composite soil
increases up to 1% of coir content and further increase in coir quantity results in the reduction of the
values. The percentage of water absorption in- creases with an increase in the percentage of coir. Tensile
strength of coir-reinforced soil (oven dry samples) increases with an increase in the percentage of coir
Khedari et al. introduced a new type of soil–cement block rein- forced with coir fibers with low thermal
conductivity .
Black cotton soil treated with 4% lime and reinforced with coir fiber shows ductility behavior before and
after failure. An optimum fiber content of 1% (by weight) with aspect ratio of 20 for fiber was
recommended for strengthening the BC soil ..

4.1.2. Sisal

Sisal is a lingo-cellulosed fiber [54] in which its traditional use is as a reinforcement for gypsum plaster
sheets in building indus- try with 60–70% of water absorption and diameter about 0.06–
0.4 mm. Sisal fibers are extracted from the leaves of the plants, which vary in size, between 6–10 cm in
width and 50–250 cm in length. In general, Brazil, Indonesia and East African countries are the world’s
main producers of sisal fibers
Ghavami et al. found that inclusion of 4% sisal, or coconut fiber, imparted considerable ductility and
slightly increased the com- pressive strength. It was also found that introduction of bitumen emulsion did
not improve the bonding between the soil and fibers; but did significantly improve soil durability .
Prabakar and Siridihar used 0.25%, 0.5%, 0.75% and 1% of sisal fi- bers by weight of raw soil with four
different lengths of 10, 15, 20 and 25 mm to reinforce a local problematic soil. They concluded that sisal
fibers reduce the dry density of the soil. The increase in the fiber length and fiber content also reduces the
dry density of the soil. As well it was found that the shear stress is increased non-linearly with increase in
length of fiber up to 20 mm and be- yond, where an increase in length reduces the shear stress. The
percentage of fiber content also improves the shear strength. But beyond 0.75% fiber content, the shear
stress reduces with increase in fiber content .

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Sisal fiber reinforced soils stabilized with cement were used as a building material by Mattone. The author
emphasizes on natural and ecological aspects of the innovation.

4.1.3. Palm fibers

The palm fibers in date production have filament textures with special properties such as low costs,
plenitude in the region, dura- bility, lightweight, tension capacity and relative strength against
deterioration [58]. Fibers extracted from decomposed palm trees are found to be brittle, having low tensile
strength and modulus of elasticity and very high water absorption
Unconfined compression strength (UCS), California Bearing Ra- tio (CBR) and compaction tests were
performed on neat and palm fiber reinforced soil samples by Marandi et al. They reported that at a constant
palm fiber length, with increase in fiber inclusion (from 0% to 1%), the maximum and residual strengths
were increased, while the difference between the residual and maximum strengths was decreased. A
similar trend was observed for constant palm fi- ber inclusion and increase in palm fiber length (from 20
mm to 40 mm).
Jamellodin et al. found that a significant improvement in the failure deviator stress and shear strength
parameters (C and U) of the soft soil reinforced with palm fibers can be achieved. It is ob- served that the
fibers act to interlock particles and group of parti- cles in a unitary coherent matrix thus the strength
properties of the soil can be increased
Ahmad et al. mixed palm fibers with silty sand soil to investi- gate the increase of shear strength during
triaxial compression. The specimens were tested with 0.25% and 0.5% content of palm fi- bers of different
lengths (i.e. 15 mm, 30 mm and 45 mm). Rein- forced silty sand containing 0.5% coated fibers of 30 mm
length exhibited approximately 25% increase in friction angle and 35% in cohesion compared to those of
unreinforced silty sand. In addi- tion, palm fibers coated with acrylic butadiene styrene thermo- plastic
increased the shear strength of silty sand much more compared to uncoated fibers.
Sallehan and Yaacob found that the addition of 3% palm fibers improve the compressive strength of
composite bricks. Water absorption test results indicated a small increase in water absorp- tion with the
increase in the palm fiber content.

4.1.4 Jute
Jute is abundantly grown in Bangladesh, China, India and Thai- land. Jute fibers are extracted from the

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fibrous bark of jute plants which grow as tall as 2.5 m with the base stem diameter of around 25 mm.
There are different varieties of jute fibers with varying properties.
Jute is mainly environmental-friendly fiber that is used for pro- ducing porous textiles which are widely
used for filtration, drain- age, and soil stabilization. For instance, GEOJUTE ® is the commercial name of
a product woven from jute fibers used for soil stabilization in pavement engineering.
Aggarwal and Sharma used different lengths (5–20 mm) of jute fibers in different percentages (0.2–1.0%)
to reinforce soil. Bitumen was used for coating fibers to protect them from microbial attack and
degradation. They concluded that jute fiber reduces the MDD while increases the OMC. Maximum CBR
value is observed with 10 mm long and 0.8% jute fiber, an increase of more than 2.5 times of the plain
soil CBR value.
Islam and Ivashita showed that jute fibers are effective for improving the mortar strength as well as
coherence between block and mortar.

4.1.5 Flax
Flax is probably the oldest textile fiber known to mankind. It has been used for the production of linen
cloth since ancient times. Flax is a slender, blue flowered plant grown for its fibers and seeds in many
parts of the world.
In an effort, Segetin et al. improved the ductility of the soil–ce- ment composite with the addition of flax
fibers. An enamel paint coating was applied to the fiber surface to increase its interfacial bond strength
with the soil. Fiber length of 85 mm along with fiber content levels of 0.6% was recommended by the
authors.
‘‘Uku’’ is a low-cost flax fiber-reinforced stabilized rammed earth walled housing system that has been
recently designed as a building material. In this way, a mobile flax machine is used en- abling the fast and
mobile processing of flax leaves into flax fibers.

4.1.6 Barely straw

Barley straw is widely cultivated and harvested once or twice annually in almost all rural areas in all over
the world and could be used in producing composite soil blocks with better character- istics, but relatively
few published data is available on its perfor- mance as reinforcement to soil or earth blocks. It is important
to know that during the Egyptian times, straws or horsehairs were added to mud bricks, while straw mats

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were used as reinforce- ments in early Chinese and Japanese housing construction. From the late 1800s,
straw was also used in the United States as bearing wall elements. Barely straw is claimed to be the most
cost-effective mulch practice to retain soil in artificial rainfall tests.
Bouhicha et al. proved the positive effects of adding straw in decreasing shrinkage, reducing the curing
time and enhancing compressive strength if an optimized reinforcement ratio is used. Flexural and shear
strengths were also increased and a more duc- tile failure was obtained with the reinforced specimen.
A mixture of barely straw with cement can form a sustainable low-cost building material, which also
reduces atmospheric pollu- tion. In addition to these benefits, the straw could act as a thermal insulation
material for the unpleasant weather conditions to create pleasant indoor temperatures.
Two types of natural fibers including wheat straw, barley straw and wood shavings were used by Ashour
et al. to make a novel plaster material composed of cohesive soil and sand. They con- cluded while fibers
have remarkable effect on the strength and ductility of plasters, their effects on the elastic modulus of
plasters are relatively small.
Abtahi et al. showed that barley straw fibers are most effective on the shear strength of the soil than Kenaf
fibers. The optimized fiber content was 1%.

4.1.6 Bamboo

Bamboo fiber is a regenerated cellulose fiber. It is a common fact that bamboo can thrive naturally without
using any pesticide. The fiber is seldom eaten by pests or infected by pathogens. So, sci- entists found that
bamboo owns a unique anti-bacteria and bacte- riostatic bio-agent named ‘‘Bamboo Kun’’. It is important
to know that the root rhizomes of bamboo are excellent soil binders which can prevent erosion.
Bamboo fibers are remarkably strong in tension but have low modulus of elasticity about 33–40 kN/mm2
and high water absorp- tion about 40–45%.
The tests undertaken by Coutts showed that the bamboo fiber is a satisfactory fiber for incorporation into
the cement matrix. Therefore, Ramaswamy et al. studied the behavior of con- crete reinforced with
bamboo fibers. The results show that these fibers can be used with advantage in concrete in a manner
similar to other fibers. It seems that the combination of cement and the root rhizomes of bamboo open a
new window for soil rein- forcement process Cane

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Cane or sugarcane belongs to grass family and grows up to 6 m high and has a diameter up to 6 cm and
bagasse is the fibrous res- idue which is obtained in sugarcane production after extraction of the juice from
the cane stalk. The fiber diameter is up to 0.2–0.4 mm. However, waste cane fiber has limited use in most
typical waste fiber applications because of the residual sugars and limited structural properties within the
fiber. But, the residual sugars can result a detrimental impact on the finished product, i.e. a stiffer bonding
phase generates in the composite structure. Therefore, ‘‘Cement Board’’ produced from sugar cane waste
has been recently introduced to the market. The authors recommend the appli- cation of these fibers in soil
reinforcement as an empty research area. shows summary of researches performed on natu- ral-fiber
reinforced-soil.

4.2. SYNTHETIC (MAN-MADE) FIBERS

4.2.1 Polypropylene (PP) fibers

Polypropylene fiber is the most widely used inclusion in the laboratory testing of soil reinforcement
Currently, PP fi- bers are used to enhance the soil strength properties, to reduce the shrinkage properties
and to overcome chemical and biological degradation.
Puppala and Musenda indicated that PP fiber reinforcement en- hanced the unconfined compressive
strength (UCS) of the soil and reduced both volumetric shrinkage strains and swell pressures of the
expansive clays.
From the experiments on field test sections in which a sandy soil was stabilized with PP fibers, Santoni
and Webster concluded that the technique showed great potential for military airfield and road applications
and that a 203-mm thick sand fiber layer was sufficient to support substantial amounts of military truck
traffic. Field experiments also indicated that it was necessary to fix the surface using emulsion binder to
prevent fiber pullout un- der traffic.
Consoli et al. investigated the load–settlement response carried out on a thick homogeneous stratum of
compacted sandy soil rein- forced with PP fibers. The PP-reinforced specimens showed a marked
hardening behavior up to the end of the tests, at axial strains larger than 20%, whereas the non-reinforced
specimens’ demonstrated an almost perfectly plastic behavior at large strain. This improvement suggests
the potential application of fiber rein- forcement in shallow foundations, embankments over soft soils, and

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other earthworks that may suffer excessive deformation . Setty and Rao and Setty and Murthy carried out
tri-axial tests, CBR tests and tensile strength tests on silty sand and black cotton soil, reinforced with PP
fibers. The test results illustrated that both of the soils showed a significant increase in the cohesion
intercept and a slight decrease in the angle of internal friction with an
increase in fiber content up to 3% by weight .
The effects of PP fiber inclusions on the soil behavior could be visually observed during the triaxial testing
and/or UCS test- ing [shown in Axial deformation of the unreinforced spec- imen resulted in the
development of a failure plane, while PP reinforced specimens tended to bulge, indicating an increase in
the ductility of fiber–soil mixture
The efficacy of combination of fly ash and PP fibers in reducing swelling and shrinkage characteristics
has been also reported The available reports show that PP fiber reinforce- ments reduce the swelling
potential of expansive clays.
In an extensive study, Yetimoglu et al. conducted a set of CBR tests on geotextile-reinforced sand
specimens overlying soft clay under PP-reinforced soil. They concluded that the penetration va- lue at
which the piston load was the highest tended to increase with increasing fiber reinforcement content. In
addition, the test

Fig.4. . Different procedures of soil reinforcement.

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Fig.. 5.Specimen deformation pattern for (left) unreinforced clay soil specimens and (right) clay soil
reinforcedwith 0.25% PP of 19 mm: Freilich et al

Fig. 6. (a) SEM photomicrograph of soil particles attached on fiber surface after pull-out test and (b) sketch
drawing of interfacial mechanical interactions between soil particles and fiber: Tang et al

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results showed that increasing fiber reinforcement content could increase the brittleness of the fiber-
reinforced sand fill–soft clay system providing higher loss of post-peak strength.
Tang et al. reinforced kaolinite soil with PP fibers and observed an increase in the unconfined compressive
strength.
PP reinforced sand has been tested in conventional triaxial com- pression and extension. The contribution
of fibers to the strength was reported remarkable in compression while limited in exten- sion confirming
that it depends primarily on their orientation with respect to tensile strains.
Consoli et al. conducted a set of drained standard triaxial tests on artificially cemented sand specimens
reinforced with randomly oriented PP fibers. The fiber reinforcement increased peak strength just up to a
certain cement content (up to about 5%), increased ulti- mate strength, decreased stiffness, and changed
the cemented sand brittle behavior to a more ductile one. The triaxial peak strength in- crease due to fiber
inclusion is more effective for smaller amounts of cement, while the increase in ultimate strength is more
effica- cious when fiber is added to sand improved with higher cement contents.
Zaimoglu found that the mass loss in PP reinforced soils (12 mm, 0.75% of total dry soil) was almost 50%
lower than that in the un-reinforced soil. It was also illustrated that the unconfined compressive strength
of specimens subjected to freezing–thawing cycles generally increased with the increasing fiber content.
Ghazavi and Roustaie showed that the addition of 3% polypro- pylene fibers (12 mm) results in the
increase of UCS of the soil before and after applying freeze–thaw cycles by 60–160% and de-
crease of frost heave by 70%.
Tang et al. investigated the micromechanical interaction behav- ior between soil particles and reinforcing
PP fibers. They concluded that the interfacial shear resistance of fiber/soil depends primarily on the
rearrangement resistance of soil particles, effective interface contact area, fiber surface roughness and soil
composition. As well, a soil–fiber pull out test apparatus was made by the authors illustrates the real and
the schematic of fiber and soil interaction.

4.2.2 Polyester (PET) fibers

Consoli et al. indicated that inclusion of PET fiber in fine sand improves both peak and ultimate strength
which is dependent on fiber content
Kumar et al. tested highly compressible clay in UCS test with 0%, 0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5% and 2.0% flat and
crimped polyester fibers. Three lengths of 3 mm, 6 mm and 12 mm were chosen for flat fibers, while that

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as the fiber length and/or fiber content increases, the UCS value will improve. Crimping of fibers leads to increase
of UCS slightly. These results are well comparable to those found by Tang et al..
The study on soil fly ash mixture reinforced with 0.5% and 1% polyester fibers 20 mm in length was
conducted in India by Kaniraj and Havanagi, which indicated the combined effect of fly ash and fiber on
soil. Kumar et al. indicated the effect of polyester fiber inclusion on expansive soil with optimized dose
of lime and fly ash.
Maheshwari mixed polyester fibers of 12 mm in length with highly compressible clayey soil vary from
0% to 1%. The results indicated that reinforcement of highly compressible clayey soil with randomly
distributed fibers caused an increase in the ulti- mate bearing capacity and decrease in settlement at the
ultimate load. They concluded that the soil bearing capacity and the safe bearing pressure (SBP) both
increase with increase in fiber content up to 0.50% and then it decreases with further inclusion of fibers
Japanese scientists have been found that short PET fiber (64 mm) reinforced soil had high piping
resistance, and that the short fiber reinforced soil layer increased the stability of levee against seepage of
rainfall and flood.

4.2.3 Polyethylene (PE) fibers

The feasibility of reinforcing soil with polyethylene (PE) strips and/or fibers has been also investigated to
a limited extent. It has been reported that the presence of a small fraction of high density PE (HDPE)
fibers can increase the fracture
energy of the soil. Nowadays, GEOFIBERS®, typically 1–2 in.
long discrete PP and/or PE fibrillated or tape strands, are mixed or blended into sand or clay soils. But, it
is important to know that some researchers have applied the term ‘‘Geofiber’’ for PP fibers used in soil
reinforcement.
Sobhan and Mashand demonstrated the importance of using toughness as a measure of performance. These
studies showed that increases in tensile strength with added HDPE strips were not real- ized but large
increases in toughness resulting from increased strain capacity was observed. With increasing toughness,
much of the expected performance benefits due to fiber inclusion are in the post-peak load portion of the
stress–strain behavior. Thus, as the fibers develop tension, an improved stress–strain response is the result.
However, improvements in fatigue behavior were not noted.
Kim et al. used PE waste fishing net (0%, 0.25%, 0.5%, 0.75%, and 1%) to reinforce lightweight soil

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derived from dredging process.

crimped fibers were cut to 3 mm long. The results indicate They found that the maximum increase in
compressive strength was obtained for a waste fishing net content of about 0.25%. Choudhary et al. reported that
the addition of reclaimed HDPE strips to local sand increases the CBR value and secant modulus. The maximum
improvement in CBR and secant modulus is obtained when the strip content is 4% with the aspect ratio of 3,
approximately three times that of an unreinforced system. As well, base course thickness can be significantly
reduced if HDPE strip reinforced sand is used as sub-grade material in pavement engi- neering.
As it can be seen environmental purposes are the main reason of using PE fibers and/or strips in
geotechnical engineering to land- fill the waste PE-based materials.

4.2.4 Glass fibers

Consoli et al. indicated that inclusion of glass fibers in silty sand effectively improves peak strength.
In another work, Consoli et al. examined the effect of PP, PET and glass fibers on the mechanical behavior
of fiber-reinforced ce- mented soils. Their results showed that the inclusion of PP fiber significantly
improved the brittle behavior of cemented soils, whereas the deviatoric stresses at failure slightly
decreased. Unlike the case of PP fiber, the inclusion of PET and glass fibers slightly increased the
deviatoric stresses at failure and slightly reduced the brittleness.
Maher and Ho studied the behavior of kaolinite–fiber (PP and glass fibers) composites, and found that the
increase in the UCS was more pronounced in the glass fiber-reinforced specimens. Conversely, Al-Refeai
reported that PP fiber outperformed glass fiber Maher and Ho found that the inclusion of 1% glass fiber
to 4% cemented sand resulted in an increase of 1.5 times in the UCS when compared to non-fiber-
reinforced cemented sand .
Nowadays, fiberglass threads termed ‘‘roving’’ can be used to reinforce cohesionless soils. The volume
of fiberglass fibers is gen- erally between 0.10% and 0.20% of the weight of the soil mixture by weight.
Experimental studies have indicated that embedded roving increases soil cohesion between 100 and 300
kN/m2. It is interest- ing to know that the fiberglass roving is an effective promoting seed adhesion and
root penetration.

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4.2.5 Nylon fiber

Kumar and Tabor studied the strength behavior of nylon fiber reinforced silty clay with different degree
of compaction. The study indicates that peak and residual strength of the samples for 93% compaction are
significantly more than the samples compacted at the higher densities..
Gosavi et al. reported that by mixing nylon fibers and jute fibers, the CBR value of soil is enhanced by
about 50% of that of unrein- forced soil, whereas coconut fiber increases the value by as high as 96%. The
optimum quantity of fiber to be mixed with soil is found to be 0.75% and any addition of fiber beyond
this quantity does not have any significant increase in the CBR value .
Murray et al. conducted a laboratory test program to evaluate the properties of nylon carpet waste fiber
reinforced sandy silt soil. Increasing the triaxial compressive strength by 204% with 3% car - pet fibers
and ductility of soil were reported by the authors. As well, field trials have showed that shredded carpet
waste fibers (to 70 mm long) can be blended into soil with conventional equipment. The availability of
low cost fibers from carpet waste could lead to wider use of fiber reinforced soil and more cost-effec- tive
construction .

4.2.6 Steel fibers

Steel fiber reinforcements found in concrete structures are also used for the reinforcement of soil–
cement composites. In addition, steel fibers can improve the soil strength but this improvement is not
compared with the case of using other types of fibers.
However, Ghazavi and Roustaie recommended that in cold climates, where soil is affected by freeze–thaw
cycles, polypropyl- ene fibers are preferable to steel fibers. Since, polypropylene fibers possess smaller
unit weight than steel fibers. In other words, the former fibers decrease the sample volume increase more
than steel fibers.

4.2.7 Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fibers

Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fiber is a synthetic fiber that has re- cently been used in fiber-reinforced concrete,
since its weather resistance, chemical resistance (especially alkaline resistance), and tensile strength are
superior to that of PP fiber. PVA fiber has a significantly lower shrinkage from heat than nylon and/or

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polyester. It has a specific gravity of 1.3 g/cm3, a good adhesive property to cement; and high anti-alkali
characteristics. For this reason, it is suitable for using PVA fiber as a soil reinforcing mate- rial. Therefore,
the inclusion of PVA fiber seems to produce more effective reinforcement in terms of strength and
ductility when compared to other fibers under the same cementation.
Park et al. found that the addition of 1% polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fiber to 4% cemented sand resulted in
a two times increase in both the UCS and the axial strain at peak strength when compared to non-fiber-
reinforced specimen. As well, Park reported that at 1% fiber dosage, the values of ductility are greater
than four, regardless of cement ratios.
shows summary of researches performed on synthetic- fiber reinforced-soil.

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5.SAMPLE PREPARATION

The mixing of fibers through soil composites is not well dis- cussed in the literature. But, the major area
of concern is the tangling of fibers, which often makes it very difficult to ob- tain a homogenous mixture.
If adequate mixing techniques cannot be developed, large scale production of fiber-reinforced soil mix-
tures will not be feasible. Some information is provided by Al- len that folding fibers through a soil matrix
is the most effective method of mixing. This can be done with the use of a front-end loa- der, bobcat or
similar device with a bucket attachment.
Mainly, there are two methods which can be taken when inves- tigating the mixing of fiber with a soil
composite. Fibers can either be mixed through the soil matrix material manually or a mechan- ical means
of mixing can be used. The mechanical procedure can be divided into three categories including cultivator
mixing, concrete mixer and tumble mixer.
Many published experimental studies implicitly assume that the fibers are randomly oriented throughout
the soil mass. Such a distribution of orientation would preserve the soil strength isotropy and eventually
avoid or delay formation of localized deformation planes. However, it has been found that the most
common procedure for preparing reinforced specimens, moist tamping, leads to preferred sub-horizontal
orientation of fibers. Similar results have been found for vibrated fiber reinforced specimens. Since
rotations of principal stress and strain rate axes almost always occur within a soil mass, the consequence
of an assumed isotropy would be the overestimation of soil design strength for certain loadings.

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6.MATERIALS PROPERTIES AND EXPERIMENTAL STUDY

6.1 Soil sample

The Soil used in this study can be classified as sandy clayey silt. The physical properties are given in

6.2 Pyrus fibers

Papyrus has a wide range distribution in swamps, streams, lakes, and wet lands. The mineral composition
of papyrus differs in different parts of the plant. This variation in mineral composition is

Fig.7. Papyrus before drying and crushing (a), and papyrus after treatment and sieving (b).

probably related to differences in the age of various portions and differences in nutrient percentage
(Gaudet, 1975). In this research the tests were carried out by using papyrus leaf fibers collected from
swamps in the Netherlands. Table 2 shows the mineral composition of the papyrus used.

6.3 Shear test

The papyrus (fibers) used in this test were dried and crushed to finer grain size in order to obtain
randomly reinforced soil sample. The size of the fibers was chosen after passing through sieves for

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suitable size mixture ranging between 0.5 to 1.5 mm (Fig. 1). The fibers were mixed with the soil until
distributed effectively. Different percentages of papyrus (5, 10, 15, and 25%) were added in order to
investigate the influence of each percentage on the soil stiffness compared with unreferenced sample.
The experimental study involved performing a series of direct shear tests. The tests were con- ducted in
a shear box of size 70 mm by 20 mm (diameter and depth). The tests were performed as con- solidated
and drained tests at normal stresses of n = 100, 200, and 400 kPa in order to completely
define the shear strength parameters (i.e., the effective angle of shear strength ( ') and cohesion (c')) for
both unreinforced and reinforced soil specimens. The loading rate was 0.002 mm/s in the tests. Shear
stresses were recorded as a function of horizontal displacement up to a total displacement of 10 mm. A
shear rate of 0.05 mm/min was applied according to the German standards DIN-18137 with duplicated
specimens to observe the post-failure behavior as well.

6.4 Consolidation and settlement

Odometer tests were performed according to the German Standard 18134. Apparatuses with a diameter
of 7 cm and height 1.4 cm were put in the consolidation cells. The soil was mixed with dif- ferent fibers
content of 5, 10, 15 and 25%. The soil samples were enclosed in a metal ring and placed into the
consolidometer. The sample was sandwiched between two filter plates, allowing two-way drainage of
the sample. Water was added into the cell around the sample, so that the sample remained saturated
during the test. Seven vertical static load increments were applied. The changes in the dis- placement of
the sample against time were recorded during each loading increment.

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7.SOIL LIQUEFACTION

7.1. Mechanism of Soil Liquefaction

Indeed, soil liquefaction is a phenomenon that usually happens in loose saturated soil with a low potential of
existence in viscous rocky clay soil. On the other side, a study on the Wenchuan earthquake showed that
gravelly soils are capable of exhibiting liquefaction under particular circumstances . The process of soil
liquefaction starts with the compression of the densely packed and sheared sand particles, followed by
expansion during the sliding of the sand particles over each other. Saturated sand consists of two porous
layers of soil particles and pore water. The densely sheared saturated sand particles hinder the pore water
drainage due to the dynamic effect causing a rise in volume, shear strength, and effective stress accompanied
by a decline in pore water pressure. The initiation of excess pore water pressure as well as weakening of the
soil and the increment of deformation are related to the behavior of dense soil under small cyclic shear strain
within undrained pore water circumstances [. As the shear strain increases, the volume increases as well,
resulting in a decrease in excess pore water pressure and hence an increase in shear resistance of the soil.
Limited liquefaction occurs when a great amount of deformation is impeded after cyclic loadings stop due to
the accumulated undrained shear strength resulting in strain hardening . On the other hand, cyclic mobility
can be defined as the gradual weakening of dense saturated sand under static load within limited undrained
cyclic shear strain [. Soil liquefaction is a different event from cyclic mobility since liquefaction exerts a
negligible rise in shear resistance despite the value of deformation . The soil subjected to cyclic mobility
shows softening first, followed by stiffness in case the monotonic loading was applied in the absence of
drainage due to a rise in volume and decrease in pore water pressure. Furthermore, the soil subjected to cyclic
loading builds up deformation and produces a low magnitude of static shear pressure in comparison to residual
shear resistance. However, the term “cyclic liquefaction” was introduced in 1994, which describes the
existence of deformation as the static shear pressure surpasses the shear resistance of the soil [The condition
at which the initial static shear pressure of expansible soil is not appreciable is called the zero effective stress
state . In general, soil liquefaction can be categorized into flow failure, circulating fluidity, and sand boils .
Sand liquefaction is the phenomenon where the ratio of pore water pressure reaches one while the sand
strength approaches zero and the sand is in the liquid state . Lastly, the liquefaction of saturated sand during
an earthquake must meet two fundamental requirements,

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earthquake must meet two fundamental requirements, which are the existence of adequate vibration intensity
capable of ruining the structure of the soil and the development of the progressive rise of excess pore water
pressure as the number of stress cycles increases until the value of excess pore water pressure causes the shear
strength of the sand to diminish entirely or partially
.
7.2. Evaluation of Soil Liquefaction

Different approaches were suggested to detect the factors responsible for the evaluation of liquefaction
resistance of soil, including stress-based , strain-based and energy-based The most widely used approach is
based on the shear stress and several cycles as the criteria of assessment regardless of the predicament of
measuring effective uniform shear stress or shear strain during tests . Another approach is based on the
dissipated energy, initial effective stress, and high pore water pressure which has been utilized by numerous
researchers due to its simplicity in evaluating the liquefaction resistance of soil . The energy-based approach involves
using distinct factors to assess soil liquefaction such as the relationship between the generation of pore water pressure
and energy release , the energy attenuation equation , the energy principles , and the shear energy as a replacement to
shear strain and a number of cycles [. In general, the most common tests for sand liquefaction are the direct shear test
and triaxial test despite the fact that the sample volume and strain range in the traditional direct shear test apparatus and
triaxial test apparatus is little which yields some drawbacks during the assessment of sand liquefaction. The ring shear
test apparatus is an adequate device for evaluating sand liquefaction due to its advantages such as big strain range and
sustained shear surface .

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8.APPLICATIONS

8.1Pavement layers

In 1991, the US ARMY Corps of Engineers demonstrated the improved performance of untreated and
chemically stabilized soil layers by using GEOFIBERS® soil reinforcement in pavement engi- neering.
The 30 cm fiber-reinforced silty sand section provided a 33% increase in the number of traffic passes
versus the similar un-reinforced section.
Grogan and Johnson showed that the inclusion of Geofiber al- lowed up to 90% more traffic passes
until failure in the clay, 60% passes until failure in the modified sand, and some enhanced traffic
performance was reported for the silty sand.
It is necessary to mention that PP Geofibers can be mixed with subgrade soils. Their inclusion raises
the maximum density about 5% and reduces the optimum moisture content of the compacted soil
mixture about 5% as well.
Tingle et al. concluded from full-scale field tests that fiber-sta- bilized sands were a viable alternative
to traditional road construc- tion materials for temporary or low-volume roads. They used a field
mixing procedure more or less similar to that of Santoni and Webster.
There is an available report (2008) stating that aprons, taxi- ways, and a helipad have been stabilized
by using high-early strength Portland cement and PP fibers with screened native soil at the Bradshaw
Field Training Area in the Northern Territory, Australia.
Finally, the most important findings of some research works are that the use of synthetic and/or natural
fibers in road construction can significantly increase pavement resistance to rutting, as com- pared to
the resistance of non-stabilized pavement over a weak subgrade.

8.2 Retaining walls and railway embankments

Park and Tan showed that use of PP fibers of 60 mm reinforced silty-sand-soil-wall increases the
stability of the wall and de- creases the earth pressures and displacements of the wall. They also
reported that this effect is more significant when short fiber soil is used in combination with geogrid

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Some researchers found that using Geofibers with the combina- tion of geogrids can lead to the economical
construction of high vertical walls for railway embankments in low-lying built-up areas. Nowadays, short fiber
composite retaining walls are conven- tional in Europe promoting seed adhesion and root penetration.

8.3 Protection of slopes and foundation engineering

Mainly, soils mixed with randomly distributed fibers can be used as patches in the localized repair of
failed slopes as it can accommodate the irregular shape of failed slopes. In the reinforce- ment of soil
veneer such as landfill covers, fiber reinforcement eliminates the need of anchorage that exists with
planar reinforce- ment, as well reduces the erosion gullies. The mixture of sand and fiber can be sprayed
onto a problematic slope like shot- crete, creating a free-draining gravity retention structure. For
instance, a nominal rate of 20 m/s is recommended for glass fibers.
Fiber reinforcement has also been used in combination with planar geosynthetics for reinforced slopes
or walls. By increasing the shear strength of the backfill materials, fiber reinforcement reduces the
required amount of planar reinforcement and may eliminate the need for secondary reinforcement.
Fiber reinforce- ment has been reported to be helpful in eliminating the shallow failure on the slope
face and reducing the cost of maintenance.
Obviously, an increase in allowable slope angle would reduce the space and the amount of soil needed
for a slope.
where L is the length, H is the height, and a1 and a2 are the allow- able slope angles for the unreinforced
and reinforced soil, respec- tively. For example, for a 1 km long, 10 m high slope, the increase of the
slope angle from 20° to 30° would save over 50,000 m3 of soil and reduce the width of the slope by 10
m. This could directly trans- late into cost and time savings and reduced environmental impact
This result has also been proven by finite element model (FEM) verifying the effectiveness of using
PP fibers to reinforce slopes.
Another concept of using fibers in civil engineering is the con- struction of foundations in soils with
poor bearing capacities, where the costs of a deep foundation solution can be incompatible with the
overall costs for low-budget building projects. In these cases, alternatives for the improvement of local
soil through the addition of cementitious agents or through the inclusion of ori- ented or randomly
distributed discrete elements such as fibers might be used.

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8.4 Earthquake engineering

The toughness and ductility of the fiber-reinforced soils are beneficial for anti-earthquake geo-
structures. According to Makiuchi and Minegishi, in Japan there are two types of earth-rein- forcement
techniques using synthetic fibers. In the first technique, continuous filament yarns are employed for
non-cohesive granular soils. For instance, TEXSOL product belongs to this group devel- oped firstly
in France. In this type, the filaments are mixed with fine sand at the specified moisture content by jet-
mixing equipment and the fiber–sand mixture is built up in the field. The successful field applications
of the TEXSOL method have been described by Leflaive. The second earth-reinforcement tech- nique
is that of using short length staple fibers introduced by Jap- anese Research Institute of Public Works
in 1997.

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9.RESEARCH WORKS FOR FUTURE

It should be pointed out that since the influences of engineering properties of soil and fiber and the
scale effects on the stress– strain–strength characteristics of fiber reinforced soils have not been
investigated fully, the actual behavior of fiber reinforced soils is not yet well known. Hence, further
studies including especially large-scale tests are needed to better understand the behavior of fiber-
reinforced soils. As well, further studies are necessary to elucidate the fracture mechanism, the effect
of prior treatment of the fibers and the durability of the composite at long term and under more severe
conditions.
In particular, the effects of drainage and pore pressures on the effective strength of the fiber–soil
mixture, and creep along the fiber–soil interface, are of particular interest.
In addition, further study is needed to optimize the size and the shape of fibers and/or strips, e.g. crimp
magnitude and crimp frequency. Measurement of durability and aging of fibers in soil composites is
recommended. Large scale test is also needed to determine the boundary effects influence on test
results. Very few studies have been carried out on freezing–thawing behavior of soils reinforced with
discrete fiber inclusions.
It is suggested that large volumes of recycled waste fibers can be used as a value-added product to
enhance the shear strength and load deformation response of soils. In this way, using recycled waste
tire cords in soil reinforcement seems to be attractive.
More investigations on the performance of composite soils reinforced with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)
fibers are required. It is important to know that the studies on behavior of soils reinforced with randomly
distributed elements under cyclic loading are very limited in the literature.
More research is needed to further understand the potential benefits and limitations and to allow fibers’
application to more complex geotechnical structures.
It is emphasized that research on the use of fiber-reinforcement with cohesive soils has been more
limited. Although fiber-rein- forcement was reported to increase the shear strength of cohesive soils,
such improvement needs additional evaluation because the load transfer mechanisms on the interface
between fibers and clayey soils are not clearly understood.

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10.ADVANTAGES

 Cost-effective: FRS is a cost-effective ground improvement technique.

 Easy to adapt: FRS is easy to adapt and reproduce.

 Improves soil stability: FRS can increase the stability of earth structures and the resistance of soil
to cracking.

 Strengthens soil: FRS can significantly improve the strength and cohesion of soil.

 Reduces consolidation settlement: The addition of fiber can reduce the consolidation settlement of
soil.

 Mimics soil stabilization: Randomly distributed fiber reinforced soil mimics soil stabilizationby
admixture.
 Strength isotropy: Randomly distributed fibers offer strength isotropy and limit potential planes of
weakness.

 Environmentally friendly: FRS is an environmentally friendly, sustainable alternative to steel

reinforcement.

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11.DISADVANTAGES

 Short fibers
Short fibers are easier to mix into soil, but they don't create an effective bending or three- dimensional
network within the soil. This is because the fibers are pulled out from the soil matrix when the
composite is loaded.

 Water content
Increasing water content weakens the bonds between soil particles and the interfacial mechanical
interactions between the fiber and soil matrix. This decreases the fiber's ability to bear tensile load.

 Deterioration
The disintegration resistance of fiber-reinforced soil (PFS) and the shear strength parameters of glass-
reinforced soil (GGS) rapidly attenuate over time.

 Dry density
Increasing the fiber percentage and fiber length decreases the dry density of the soil.

 Shear strength
Increasing the percentage of sisal fiber increases the shear strength up to 0.75% fiber content. Further
increases in fiber percentage lead to a reduction in shear strength.

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12.CONCLUSION

This paper was going to review the concept of using discrete randomly distributed fibers in soil, i.e. short
fiber soil composites. In this way, both natural (coir, sisal, palm, jute, flax, straw, bam- boo; and Cain)
and synthetic fibers (PP, PE, PET, Nylon, Glass, PVA; and Steel) that have been yet used to reinforce soil
were investigated. In a simple process, fibers, typically at a dosage rate of 0.2–4% by weight, are added
and mixed into silt, clay, sand, or lime and cement stabilized soil.
All of the papers listed above have generally shown that strength and stiffness of the composite soil is
improved by fiber reinforcement. It can be concluded that the increase in strength and stiffness was
reported to be a function of:

● Fiber characteristics; such as; aspect ratio, skin friction, weight fraction; and modulus of
elasticity.
● Sand characteristics; such as shape, particle size and gradation.
● Test condition; such as; confining stress.

On the basis of predictive models presented in this paper, it is clear that the strength of fiber reinforced
soil increases with increase in aspect ratio, fiber content, fiber modulus; and soil fiber surface friction.
Direct shear tests, unconfined compression tests and conven- tional triaxial compression tests have
demonstrated that shear strength is increased and post-peak strength loss is reduced when discrete fibers
are mixed with the soil.
In other words, discrete, randomly distributed fiber inclusions significantly increase the peak shear
strength, reduce the post- peak strength loss, increase the axial strain to failure, and, in some cases, change
the stress–strain behavior from strain softening to strain hardening. Fiber inclusions also impede the
compaction pro- cess, causing a reduction in the maximum dry density of reinforced specimens with
increasing fiber content. The strength losses asso- ciated with in-service saturation are significantly
reduced with fiber reinforcement.
Altogether, it is necessary to mention that research on the use of fibers with cohesive soils has been more
limited. Although fiber- reinforcement was reported to increase the strength of cohesive soils, such
reinforcement needs additional evaluation because the load transfer mechanisms on the interface between

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING 30 KMCT ITM,KUTTIPPURAM

SEMINAR REPORT 2024-2025 FIBERS REINFORCED SOIL

fibers and clayey soils are not clearly understood.

Several researchers have recently attempted to study the com- bined effect of fiber and other chemical
binders (e.g. fly ash, cement, lime, poly vinyl acetate, poly vinyl alcohol; and urea form- aldehyde) on
granular or clayey soils. The main reason is that while chemical binders improve the stability of the soil,
at the same time, they decrease the ductile behavior of the soil. Fibers, in this way, help to reduce the
brittleness factor of the composite soil. Thus, a brittleness factor was introduced in this paper ranging from
1 to 0, where 0 represents perfectly ductile behavior Authors conclude that lack of scientific standard, clumping
and balling of fibers and adhesion of fiber to soil are the three major executive problems involved with the short
composite soil production.
Availability, economical benefits, easy to work and rapid to perform; and feasibility of using in all weather
conditions are the general advantages of short fiber composite soils. The technical benefits of using fibers
in soil reinforcement include: preventing the formation of the tensile cracks, increasing hydraulic
conductiv- ity and liquefaction strength, reducing the thermal conductivity and weight of building
materials, restraining the swelling tendency of expansive soils; and decreasing the soil brittleness.
As well, a comprehensive literature review shows that using natural and/or synthetic fibers in geotechnical
engineering is feasi- ble in six fields including pavement layers (road construction), retaining walls,
earthquake engineering, railway embankments, protection of slopes; and soil-foundation engineering.
At final, it is emphasized that short fiber composite soil is still a relatively new technique in geotechnical
projects as a mimics of the past

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SEMINAR REPORT 2024-2025 FIBERS REINFORCED SOIL

13. REFERENCE

1. Ling I, Leshchinsky D, Tatsuoka F. Reinforced soil engineering: advances in research and practice.
Marcel Dekker Inc.; 2003.
2. Jones M. Mechanics of composite materials. 2nd ed. Taylor and Francis; 1999.
3. Kazemian S, Huat K, Prasad A, Barghchi M. A review of stabilization of soft soils by injection of
chemical grouting. Aust J Basic Appl Sci 2010;4:5862–8.
4. Abtahi M, Allaie H, Hejazi M. An investigative study on chemical soil stabilization. In: 8th Int cong
civ eng, Shiraz, Iran; 2009.
5. Abtahi M, Sheikhzadeh M, Hejazi M, Hassani Y. Compressive behavior of composite soils reinforced
with recycled waste tire cords and poly propylene fibers. In: 1st Int and 7th nat conf text eng, Rasht,
Iran; 2009.
6. Ola A. Stabilization of lateritic soils by extensible fiber reinforcement. Eng Geol 1989;26:125–40.
7. Binici H, Aksogan O, Shah T. Investigation of fiber reinforced mud brick as a building material.
Construct Build Mater 2005;19:313–8.
8. Yarbasi N, Kalkan E, Akbulut S. Modification of freezing–thawing properties of granular soils with
waste additives. Col Reg Sci Technol 2007;48:44–54.
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Construct Build Mater 2004;18:263–7.
10. Puppala A, Musenda C. Effects of fiber reinforcement on strength and volume change behavior of two
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12. Sawicki A. Plastic limit behavior of reinforced earth. J Geotech Eng ASCE 1983;109:1000–

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING 32 KMCT ITM,KUTTIPPURAM