Behaviour of saturated fibre-reinforced sand in centrifuge model tests

Fibre-reinforcement has shown its efficacy in improving soil properties and been proposed to apply in increasing liquefaction resistance of deposits. As the contributions of fibres in real seismic conditions are yet to clarify, further investigations are needed to fill this gap. In this study, centrifuge tests have been conducted for this exploration. The dry pluviation preparation procedures for fibre-reinforced sand in centrifuge testing are disclosed in details for the first time. Results show that fibres are beneficial in preventing structure collapse of the sand matrix, but liquefaction induced excess pore pressures and ground surface settlements reduction is not apparently reduced as those in previous tests. Shear moduli are enhanced to some extent under lower confining stresses at relative larger shear strain levels, while equivalent damping ratios are increased at small strain levels. Limitation of simulating real conditions of previous element tests and 1 g shaking table tests may exaggerate the benefits of fibres.