Strength Behavior of Shanghai Clayey Soil Reinforced with Wheat Straw Fibers

摘要

It is generally recognized that the low strength and high compressibility are the characteristics of soft soil. In addition to other techniques, reinforcement can also be used in increasing the strength and decreasing the deformation of this kind of soil. The results of an investigation into the effects of a natural fiber on the consolidation and shear strength behavior of Shanghai clayey soil reinforced with wheat straw fibers are presented in this paper. A series of one dimensional consolidation and triaxial tests were conducted on samples of unreinforced and reinforced Shanghai clayey soil with different percentages of randomly distributed wheat straw fibers. The results show that the preconsolidation pressure decreases and the coefficient of swelling and compression generally increase with increasing the fiber content until a optimum content value. Furthermore, the addition of wheat straw fiber leads to a significant increase in shear strength and friction angle of the natural soil and there is an optimum wheat fiber content that makes this increase maximal.