Effect of fiber content on the liquefaction potential of improved soils

Abstract

The use of randomly distributed fibers as soil reinforcement has recently become more popular due to a more satisfactory performance compared with conventional reinforcements. Most previous investigations have focused on the strength and deformation characteristics of fiber-reinforced soil. The liquefaction behavior of fiber reinforced soils has recently received interest since fiber addition is currently considered as a new way of soil improvement to prevent soil liquefaction. Studies indicate that when soils are reinforced with synthetic or natural fibers, a reduction is observed in the number of cycles required to initiate liquefaction under undrained loading conditions. In this study, a regression analysis was performed in the current study by using the results of the previous studies. The obtained formula is able to capture the effect of fiber percentage and relative density of the cohesionless soil on the cyclic stress ratio values with a good agreement.