A general relationship to estimate strength of fibre-reinforced cemented fine-grained soils

Abstract

Fibre addition and Portland cement treatment are used to amend the adverse characteristics of some fine-grained soils and to enhance their mechanical properties. The present study proposes a single power function that quantifies the effects of the amount of cement and porosity on the unconfined compressive (qu) and split tensile (qt) strength of fibre-reinforced fine-grained soil-cement mixtures. The practical value of the equation is that only one unconfined compression (or split tensile) test of a specimen moulded with a specific fibre type, fibre amount, specific cement amount, porosity, and cured for a given time period is required to estimate the strength of the fibre-cement soil mixture. The equation can be used for a wide range of porosities and cement contents, and for other fibre-reinforced fine-grained soils treated with cement.