Rock Mechanics
Swaraj Chowdhury; Rakesh Kumar; Ankit Kumar
Abstract
The present study examines the strength and permeability behavior of glass fibre-reinforced fly ash-bentonite (FaB) mixture to assess its potential as an alternate geo-material. The FaB mixture is produced by adding 20% bentonite with 80% fly ash and is further reinforced with glass fibre. The unconfined ...
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The present study examines the strength and permeability behavior of glass fibre-reinforced fly ash-bentonite (FaB) mixture to assess its potential as an alternate geo-material. The FaB mixture is produced by adding 20% bentonite with 80% fly ash and is further reinforced with glass fibre. The unconfined compressive strength (UCS) tests have been conducted at a strain rate of 0.625 mm/min by varying the curing period (0 to 60 days), relative moisture content (R.M.C– 80% to 120%) and fibre content (0% to 1.0%). The effect of fibre content on the coefficient of permeability (k) and compressibility behavior of the FaB mixture has been investigated through one-dimensional consolidation tests. The findings indicate that the UCS of the FaB mix samples improves with an increase in curing period and fibre content. At 100% R.M.C, the UCS increases from 48 kPa to 228 kPa for the unreinforced samples as the curing period increases from 0 to 60 days. At 90% R.M.C, both unreinforced and reinforced FaB mix samples have exhibited the highest UCS values considering all curing periods. With fibre content increasing from 0% to 1.0%, the UCS rises about 33% to 44% at 100% R.M.C. Fibre reinforcement also contributes to reduction of k and compressibility. Based on the experimental findings, a closed-form equation has been developed for the prediction of UCS of FaB mixture reinforced with and without glass fibre. Results confirm that glass fibre reinforcement improves the strength, permeability, and compressibility of the FaB mixture, establishing it as an alternate geo-material.
