Shear strength behavior of fiber-reinforced sand considering triaxial tests under distinct stress paths

The results of drained triaxial tests on fiber reinforced and nonreinforced sand (Osorio sand) specimens are presented in this work, considering effective stresses varying from 20 to 680kPa and a variety of stress paths. The tests on nonreinforced samples yielded effective strength envelopes that were approximately linear and defined by a friction angle of 32.5° for the Osorio sand, with a cohesion intercept of zero. The failure envelope for sand when reinforced with fibers was distinctly nonlinear, with a well-defined kink point, so that it could be approximated by a bilinear envelope. The failure envelope of the fiber-reinforced sand was found to be independent of the stress path followed by the triaxial tests. The strength parameters for the lower-pressure part of the failure envelope, where failure is governed by both fiber stretching and slippage, were, respectively, a cohesion intercept of about 15 kPa and friction angle of 48.6deg. The higher-pressure part of the failure envelope, governed by tensile yielding or stretching of the fibers, had a cohesion intercept of 124 kPa, and friction angle of 34.6deg. No fiber breakage was measured and only fiber extension was observed. It is, therefore, believed that the fibers did not break because they are highly extensible, with a fiber strain at failure of 80%, and the necessary strain to cause fiber breakage was not reached under triaxial conditions at these stress and strain levels. © 2007 ASCE.