Splitting Tensile Strength of Fiber-Reinforced and Biocemented Sand

This technical note examines the splitting tensile strength properties of natural sand treated with polyvinyl acetate (PVA) fiber in combination with biocementation using the microbially induced calcite precipitation (MICP) process. Ottawa 20-30 sand was mixed with PVA fiber at five different fiber ratios (0.0%, 0.2%, 0.4%, 0.6%, and 0.8% by weight) and then stabilized using urease-producing bacteria plus urea and calcium chloride (CaCl2) solutions. Splitting tensile strength was determined for the treated sand samples. The results showed that the splitting tensile strength and splitting secant elastic modulus increased with increasing in either calcium carbonate content or fiber ratio. The use of PVA fibers together with MICP treatment could also increase the failure strain and the postfailure splitting tensile strength.