Model tests of square footing resting on fibre-reinforced sand bed

This paper discusses the pressure–settlement response from a steel plate load test on poorly graded sandy soil reinforced with randomly distributed fibres. The sand was reinforced with 0.5%, 0.75%, 1% and 1.25% randomly distributed fibres, and the top reinforced layer was separated from the bottom unreinforced layer with the help of a plastic fabric sheet. Pressure–settlement curves were plotted for a footing resting on sand reinforced up to depths of 0.25B, 0.5B, 0.75B, 1.0B, 1.25B and 1.5B below the base of the footing of width B. The results show that there is a significant increase in the ultimate bearing capacity of footing resting on a fibre-reinforced sand bed, and that the inclusion of fibres is more effective if the reinforced sand layer is compacted at a relative density of 55% as compared with that compacted at 25% relative density.