Effects of Fiber on Swell of Expansive Soils

摘要

One-dimensional odometer swell tests were conducted to investigate theeffects of geo-fiber on swelling characteristics of expansive soils fromSaudi Arabia. Samples were prepared with varying fiber contents(0.25%, 0.50%, 0.75%, and 1.0%) by dry weight of the expansive soil.Replicate tests were performed to ascertain the variations in test results,if any. It was observed that there was practically no variation in theresults of the replicate tests. In addition to the swell tests, unconfinedcompression tests were performed to study the effects of geo-fiber onunconfined compressive strength of the tested soil.Test results indicated that the addition of fiber reduced the free swellpercentage and swelling pressure of the tested soil. As the fiber contentincreased, both the swell percentage and swelling pressure of theexpansive soil decreased. The unconfined compressive strength wasincreased by increasing fiber content for soils compacted at the samedry density and water content.