Effect of fiber reinforcement on the bearing capacity of a surface strip foundation

The use of randomly distributed fibers as a means of reinforcing the soil matrix has attracted increasing attention in geotechnical engineering in recent years. Fiber soil reinforcement can be employed in current practice to strengthen poor quality soil around foundations and/or limit excessive settlements. This study presents an experimental investigation of the effect of discrete and randomly distributed fiber reinforcement on the bearing capacity of a shallow foundation. To this aim, a series of centrifuge tests were undertaken on a surface strip footing assuming plane strain conditions. The results are presented through plots of bearing pressure versus settlement ratio. The inclusion of fiber reinforcement was found to improve the foundation’s bearing capacity, reduce settlements significantly and increase the stiffness of the reinforced soil-foundation system.