Laboratory Modeling of a Spread Footing on Sand Reinforced by Strips of Carbon Fiber Reinforcement

Authors

1 Department of Civil Engineering, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili

2 Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Bonab, Iran

Abstract

The bearing capacity of a square footing on sand reinforced by carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) was investigated in the laboratory. A sand box with dimensions of 100×100×90 cm was utilized as the test bed for experiments. A 20×20×2 cm steel plate was employed to simulate the square footing. The sand was reinforced using 2 cm width carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) strips with different numbers of strips, lengths, and depths. The effect of the horizontal distances between CFRP strips and chemical treatment of the interface of the CFRP and sand on the bearing capacity of the footing were investigated. The results of these tests indicated that with the same number of reinforcement strips, placing the reinforcement strips close to the center of the footing increases the bearing capacity of the foundation. The bearing capacity of the foundation on sand reinforced with a single layer CFRP strips could be improved by 50% in optimal condition. Epoxy resin treatment of the interface of the sand and CFRP strips increased the bearing capacity of the foundation by an additional 11%.

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