Model tests on footing resting on waste tire fiber reinforced granular soil

Abstract

A series of laboratory footing load tests have been carried out on a model strip footing to investigate the effectiveness of waste tire fibers as reinforcement in granular soil. The effects of fiber content, fiber aspect ratio, depth of reinforcement, and relative density (RD) of soil on the bearing capacity of the soil have been investigated. Three aspect ratios of fibers, 12⋅5, 17⋅5, and 22⋅5 of fibers were used in the study. Footing load tests at fiber contents of 0⋅25, 0⋅50, 0⋅75, and 1% (by weight of thickness of reinforced layer) at RDs of 50, 60, 70, 80, and 90% have been performed. The thickness of the reinforced layer was kept at 0⋅5B, 1⋅0B, 1⋅5B, and 2⋅0B, where B is the width of the strip footing. It was observed that bearing capacity improved at all the fiber contents. However, the maximum improvement in the bearing capacity of the soil reinforced with waste tire fibers was observed at an aspect ratio of 22⋅5 with 0⋅75% fiber content, and 1⋅5B thickness of reinforced layer.