Bearing capacity of circular footing supported on coir fiber-reinforced soil

Abstract

A series of triaxial compression tests on sandy soils reinforced with varying percentages of coir fibers have been numerically simulated to observe its effect on the elastic properties and friction angle of the sand. Test results indicated that with increase in fiber content, the elastic properties and friction angle of soil improved significantly. Three dimensional numerical investigation has also been carried out to investigate the load settlement characteristics of a circular footing resting on fiber-reinforced sand using the properties obtained from the triaxial simulations. This study provides an insight into the effectiveness of addition of coir fibers in the sand of different strengths on the bearing capacity of circular footing.