Reinforcing Soil with Aligned and Randomly Oriented Metallic Fibers

Laboratory direct shear box tests were used to evaluate the strength behavior of a reinforced uniform silty sand. The reinforcement elements consisted of flexible, semirigid, and rigid metallic fibers. The orientations of the fibers to the shear plane were varied and had a marked effect on the shear resistance. Increases in peak and residual strengths of 100 and 300%, respectively, were observed over unreinforced sand. Specimens reinforced with randomly oriented flexible fibers also exhibited a similar improvement of strength parameters.