Fibre Reinforced Soils For Geotechnical Infrastructure

This paper presents the results of recent laboratory studies on fibre reinforced soils. Drained and undrained triaxial test results highlight how soil stress-strain behaviour may be altered by mixing with discrete flexible fibres. In triaxial compression a considerable strength increase is induced by the presence of fibres, while in extension the strength increase is very limited. This is attributed to the fibre orientation distribution with respect to the tensile strains developed. Also presented in the paper is a framework for introducing the effects of fibres and their orientation into a constitutive model to describe the anisotropic stress-strain behaviour of fibre reinforced soils. Model simulations of selected test results are shown. Also described are examples of future investigations and trials required to make the soil reinforcement technology ready for use in industry.