Effect of Barley Straw Fiber as a Reinforcement on the Mechanical Behavior of Babolsar Sand

The behavior of soil reinforced with barley straw fibers was investigated in the current study. Several static triaxial tests were performed to assess the mechanical behavior of Babolsar sand reinforced with randomly positioned barley straw fibers. The soil was supplemented with fibers that ranged in length from 6 to 12 mm at 0%, 0.3, 0.6, and 0.9% by dry weight. In static triaxial testing, confining pressures of 50, 100, and 200 kPa were used. The examination of sand reinforced with barley straw showed that fibers increased the sand’s shear strength, yield strain, and stiffness. The findings showed that adding fiber increased the soil’s peak strength. However, this strength improvement was minor for weight percentages of 0.3 and much larger for weight percentages of 0.6 and 0.9. According to the results, adding fibers at a weight ratio of 0.9% might increase the soil’s peak strength by as much as 60%. Additionally, the failure strain was increased with the addition of barley straw fibers compared to unreinforced soil. It is important to note that the internal friction angle of unreinforced soil was 43 degrees. This number equated to 51 degrees when 0.9% fiber was added to the soil.