Effect of Glass Fibres on the Strength and Deformation Performance of a Cohesive Soil

In this study, the influence of glass fibre reinforcement on the strength and deformation performance of a cohesive soil is investigated by conducting a series of consolidated undrained triaxial tests. The specimens were reinforced with 10 mm fibres of four different contents. Test result shows that the glass fibres have significantly improved the stress–strain, shear strength, secant modulus and energy absorption capability (EAC) which further increases with increasing confining pressure. With increasing fibre content, the positive pore pressure development increases and bulging of specimen decreases. Contribution of fibres in deviator strength ratio (DSR) is higher at low confining pressure and decreases with increasing confining pressure. However, the fibre contribution on secant modulus and EAC increases with increasing confining pressure. Both cohesion and friction angle have increased with fibre content and the maximum fibre contribution is found with 0.75% fibres. The glass fibre-reinforced cohesive soil has ample scope for various geotechnical applications.