Tensile strength behavior of cement-stabilized dredged sediment reinforced by polypropylene fiber

This study evaluated the feasibility of using polypropylene fiber (PF) as reinforcement in improving tensile strength behavior of cement-stabilized dredged sediment (CDS). The effects of cement content, water content, PF content and length on the tensile strength and stress–strain behavioral evolutions were evaluated by conducting splitting tensile strength tests. Furthermore, the micro-mechanisms characterizing the tensile strength behavior inside PF-reinforced CDS (CPFDS) were clarified via analyzing macro failure and microstructure images. The results indicate that the highest tensile strengths of 7, 28, 60, and 90 d CPFDS were reached at PF contents of 0.6%, 1.0%, 1.0%, and 1.0%, exhibiting values 5.96%, 65.16%, 34.10%, and 35.83% higher than those of CDS, respectively. Short, 3 mm, PF of showed the best reinforcement efficiency. The CPFDS exhibited obvious tensile strain-hardening characteristic, and also had better ductility than CDS. The mix factor (C_C^a/C_w^b) and time parameter (q_t0(t)) of CDS, and the reinforcement index (k_t-PF) of CPFDS were used to establish the tensile strength prediction models of CDS and CPFDS, considering multiple factors. The PF “bridge effect” and associated cementation-reinforcement coupling actions inside CPFDS were mainly responsible for tensile strength behavior improvement. The key findings contribute to the use of CPFDS as recycled engineering soils.