Influence of Embedded Waste-Plastic Fibers on the Improvement of the Tensile Strength of Stabilized Mud Masonry Blocks

Abstract

This paper highlights the results of an experimental investigation on the tensile strength behavior of plastic-fiber-reinforced soil performed to study the possibility of utilization of waste plastics in soil masonry blocks. Cylindrical specimens of raw soil and modified soil compacted at different pressure by varying the molding pressure from 1.25 to 7.5 MPa corresponding to a molding load from 10 to 60 kN are tested for split tensile strength and compressive strength. Raw soil is modified by adding a varying the amount of stabilizer (cement: 7.5, 10, and 15%), fiber types (made out of mineral water bottles and carry bags), fiber length (1 and 2 cm), and fiber percentage (0.1 and 0.2%). The results show that compared with raw specimens, a compacted reinforced cement stabilized specimen shows an increase of 4.5 times in its tensile strength. This is one of the major advantages of adding fibers to the compressed stabilized specimens. From the observations of failure pattern it can be concluded that the benefit of fiber reinforcement is the improved ductility.