Closure to 'Unconfined Compressive and Splitting Tensile Strength of Basalt Fiber-Reinforced Biocemented Sand'

摘要

We appreciate the discussers' interest in this research and their suggestions on the theoretical predictions of unconfined compressive strength (UCS) and splitting tensile strength (STS) for cemented soils. The main concerns raised by the discussers cover the detailed determination of fiber diameter, load-deformation curves, and theoretical predictions on UCS and STS of the fiber-reinforced biocemented sand, which are addressed in detail as follows. The basalt fiber diameter was determined by image analysis according to ASTM D7879-13 (ASTM 2018). The fibers were randomly distributed on a glass slide. Another glass slide was used to slightly compress the fibers to create a uniform focal plane. Digital imaging of fibers by a light microscope was used to measure the diameter of these fibers (at least 100 fibers in one digital image) through image processing software (Schneider et al. 2012). The diameter indeed varies in a certain range as observed from scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of fibers in the original paper. The mean value (i.e., 22 μm) of the diameter was adopted for use in the original paper.