Journal of Applied Science and Engineering, Vol.

26, No 1, Page 61-68 61

Assessment Of Geotechnical Properties Of Clay Stabilized With Jute

Fiber
Zena Hadi Alqaissi1 , Madhat Shakir Al-Soud1* , Zina Mikhael Dawood2 , Jinan Marzooq
Faleeh1 , and Aisha Arkan Ahmed1
1 Mustansiriyah University/ College of Engineering/ Civil Engineering Department
2 ErbilPolytechnic University/ Erbil Technical Engineering College/ Civil Engineering Department
* Corresponding author. E-mail: ms_madhat@uomustansiriyah.edu.iq

Received: Sept. 02, 2021; Accepted: Feb. 12, 2022

Soft soil suffered from different aspects for example high compressibility and low shear strength; in which
cannot provide satisfactory support to any structure. In order to support such type of soil, the synthetic/natural
fiber reinforcement has been recently suggested to ensure the stability of buildings and infrastructures. This
technique involves the randomly mixing of soil with small discrete materials like fibers or meshes to get a
homogeneous material. The Kaolin (K) and jute fiber (JF) were used to prepare unreinforced and reinforced
specimens for the experimental work. The JF was chosen as a reinforcement material with different contents
namely (0.5%, 1%, 2%, and 3%). The fibers were cut into two different lengths (2 cm and 4 cm). A total of 27
laboratory tests including standard Proctor compaction test, one dimensional consolidation test, and unconfined
compression test were conducted on the prepared mixture to investigate the effect of jute fibers on the behavior
of clay. The maximum dry density decreases and optimum moisture content increases with the inclusion of JF.
Mixing the clay with JF of 0.5% decreases the maximum dry density MDD by 5% less than the unreinforced
clay. The JF greatly influenced the unconfined compressive strength (UCS) for all that fiber’s content and length.
UCS of the JF specimen is 4.26 times that for the natural clay. Moreover, JF increases the failure strain especially
for fiber length L= 4 cm. The reinforced clay specimens show almost a strain softening behavior.

Keywords: Kaolinite, Random reinforcement, Jute fiber, Compressibility, Strength index, Strain softening
© The Author(’s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC
BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and
source are cited.
http://dx.doi.org/10.6180/jase.202301_26(1).0007

1. Introduction famous residual case of soil reinforcement is the Ziggurat,

which currently known as Agar-Quf.
An existence of soft soils practically cannot provide satisfac-
Systematically and randomly reinforced soils are com-
tory support to any structure or building in geotechnical en-
monly used to stabilize the soil; the systematically tech-
gineering fields. This type of soil can also be suffered from
nique employed by using different pattern of continuous
different environmental and natural factors such as high
reinforcement additions for example strip, sheet or bar,
compressibility, poor shear strength, temperature changes,
while the randomly technique is performing by mixing
etc. In order to support certain types of soil, have mechani-
discrete fibers randomly with a soil fill [1] Comparing the
cal characteristics, earth reinforcement would be a suitable
two techniques, soil reinforced with randomly-distributed
choice to ensure the stability of the buildings and the civil
inclusions have mainly used during the last decades in
engineering infrastructure. The earth reinforcement con-
different construction fields [2, 3].
cept is previously exist. The tree roots are considered as
a natural case study for such reinforcement. One of the The synthetic/natural fiber reinforcement technique has
62 Zena Hadi Alqaissi et al.

been recently proposed by many researchers in geotech- that the CBR value of subgrade soil has direct relations
nical applications. This technique involves the randomly with jute fiber content, fiber length, and fiber diameter. The
mixing of soil with small discrete fibers or meshes to get a greater value of CBR was achieved at fiber content of 1%.
homogeneous material. The additive material like metal, In the same outcomes, Sen and Reddy [16] preferred to use
nylon, polyester and other materials have variable physi- jute over the other types of natural fibers due to its high
cal properties. Consequently, the discrete fibers are added properties to resist tensile strength, rotting, and heat.
and mixed easily with the soil. In addition, randomly dis-
tributed fibers offer strength isotropy as well as offer an 3. Materials properties and preparation
inadequate potential planes, that developing an oriented The Kaolin (K) and jute fiber (JF) are commercially-
reinforcement. In contrast, some of the fiber takes less time available from the local distributors were used to prepare
therefore, it can be implemented in shallow depths. Subse- reinforced and unreinforced specimens for the experimen-
quently, the soil reinforcement method is applied in large tal work.
areas [2, 4] The Atterberg limits of the used Kaolin were found
The use of natural materials like jute, bamboo, coir, etc., as LL= 60% and 28%, and according to the unified soil
as an earth reinforcement were presented in the early of classification system (USCS), the clay can be classified as a
1990. Typically, these materials would be used in areas high plasticity clay (CH).
where they are available are that they are cost effective, Table 1 identifies the physical and mechanical properties
lightweight, requiring low amounts of energy, biodegrad- of the Kaolin. The chemical composition of Kaolin is shown
able and hence the environmental would benefit a great in Table 2.
deal (echo–friendly) [5–11]. Table 3 summarizes the chemical, mechanical and phys-
The main objective of this experimental study is to inves- ical properties of the jute. The fibers of a diameter (0.7 –
tigate the effect of jute fiber on the geotechnical properties 0.8) mm were cut into two segments of a length L=2 cm
of clay under several tests. The results of the compaction, and L=4 cm to use them as reinforcing materials.
compressibility, and strength of the reinforced and unrein- In this study, nine specimens were prepared for each
forced specimens are presented and discussed. test including two types; unreinforced specimen and JF
reinforced specimen. The Kaolin clay was first oven dried
2. Review of literature at 105 °C for 24 hours mixed with JF in a dry state. Both the
Five rates (0.2–1%) of jute fiber were proposed by Aggarwal JF and the soil were mixed based on the total dry weight as
and Sharma [12] with various lengths of (5–20mm) for follows:
soil stabilization. They found that the jute fiber reduces
the maximum dry density of stabilized soil and increases Jute fiber content JF% = WJ /Ws × 100% (1)
its optimum moisture content. It can be illustrated that where W J is the weights of Jute and Ws is the weights of
California bearing ratio (CBR) value increases up to (2.5) dry soil.
times that for the natural soil with jute fiber content of ( The JF was chosen as a reinforcement material with dif-
0.8% ) and fiber length (10 mm) [13]. ferent contents (0.5%, 1%, 2%, and 3%). The fibers were
Gosavi et al. [14] utilized various percentages and types scissored into two different lengths (2 cm and 4 cm) as
of fibers like, nylon fibers, jute fibers, and coconut fibers shown in Fig. 1 and mixed with clay following the experi-
to reinforce the soil. The results showed that the CBR was mental program shown in Table 4.
improved by 50% when the soil mixed with nylon fibers A staged mixing process was adopted by adding the
and jute fibers, and 96% mixed with coconut fibers, when designated JF gradually to the clay in small increments.
compared with the pure soil sample, where the optimal Each increment was mixed manually and thoroughly until
fiber content was 0.75%. the prescribed JF content required for the mixture is added
Neeraja [15] employed jute fiber with lime - stabilized after which the mixing process continued for 5 minutes to
soil. He found that a combination of 5% lime with 0.5% jute ensure that the JF is uniformly distributed within the soil
fiber has a significant effect on the unconfined compressive mass.
strength (UCS) of native soil. The minimum dry density Mirzababaei et al. [18] observed that adding water to a
and the maximum water content were achieved at lime dry fiber-soil mixture was the most suitable mixing method.
content 5% with jute fiber 1%. Such method makes the fibers coated by a clay layer and
The improvement of subgrade soil caused by jute fiber after that mixed with water, which restricts the formation
was investigated by Singh and Bagra [8]. They concluded of fiber lumps.
 Journal of Applied Science and Engineering, Vol. 26, No 1, Page 61-68 63

Table 1. Physical properties of Kaolin

Property Units Value Standard

Specific gravity (Gs ) - 2.64 ASTM D854–14
Max dry density (ρd ) gm/cm3 1.73 ASTM D698–12
Optimum moisture content (w) % 18.4 ASTM D698–12
Liquid limit (L.L) % 61 ASTM D4318–05
Plastic limit (P.L) % 28 ASTM D4318–05
Classification according to USCS - CH ASTM D2487–11

Fig. 1. View of jute fibers

Table 2. Chemical composition of Kaolin 4. Results and discussion

Chemical element Percent % 4.1. Effect of jute fiber JF on the maximum dry density
SiO2 51.3 MDD
Al2 O3 33.1
CaO 1.6 Fig. 2 illustrates the effectiveness of JF on MDD and the
Fe2 O3 1.4 optimum moisture content (OMC) for different contents
MgO 0.6 and lengths of jute. The MDD has an inverse relation with
LOI* (at 1000 °C) 12
the JF which appears in decreasing the MDD of the rein-
forced clay with Increasing the JF. The replacement of clay
by the jute of low density tends to decrease the unit weight
of the reinforced clay within a certain volume. Mixing the
clay with JF of 0.5% decreases the MDD by 5% less than the
unreinforced clay.
According to the standard (ASTM D-698) for Proctor
On the other side, the optimum moisture content shows
compaction test, the required amount of water related to
a direct relation with JF content. This related to the ability
the optimum moisture content (18.4%) was added gradu-
of jute fiber to adsorb water which increase the OMC. The
ally to the soil-fiber mixture in conjunction with the manual
above results are in good agreement with several previous
mixing ensuring a uniform distribution mixture that pre-
study [19].
pared at the determined maximum dry unit weight. The
Although JF of 2% seems to have a low value of MDD for
mixture was kept covered in a plastic container for 24 hours
the fiber contents used in this study but this content shows
at a room temperature in preparation for the laboratory ex-
the greatest value OMM compared to other JF contents as
periments.
it appears in Figs. 3 and 4. The results are illustrated in
Table 5.

Several laboratory tests including standard Proctor com-

paction test (ASTM D-698), one dimensional consolida- 4.2. Effect jute fiber JF on soil compressibility
tion test (ASTM D-2435), and unconfined compression test Fig. 5 shows the results of one dimensional consolidation
(ASTM D-2166) were conducted on the prepared mixture; test for the unreinforced and reinforced clay presented by
and the obtained results were analyzed and investigated void ratio-pressure relations. The consolidation character-
the effectiveness of jute fibers on the behavior of clay. istics were determined based on the ASTM D2435 where
64 Zena Hadi Alqaissi et al.

Table 3. Chemical, mechanical and physical properties of Jute fiber [17]

Properties Units Value

Density g/cm3 1.3
Young’s modulus, E GPa 26 - 32
Tensile strength MPa 450 - 550
Elongation at break % 1.5 - 1.8
Cellulose content % 58 - 63
Hemicellulose content % 12
Lignin content % 12 - 14

Table 4. Experimental program

Symbol Soil Type Jute fiber (JF)

Content% Length (cm)
C 0 0
CJ0.5-2 0.5 2
CJ1-2 1 2
CJ2-2 2 2
CJ3-2 Kaolinite clay 3 2
CJ0.5-4 0.5 4
CJ1-4 1 4
CJ2-4 2 4
CJ3-4 3 4

(a) (b)

Fig. 2. Dry unit weight and water content relationship for different jute fiber contents for jute length of (a) 2 cm and (b) 4 cm.
 Journal of Applied Science and Engineering, Vol. 26, No 1, Page 61-68 65

fiber significantly enhance the friction at the soil-fiber in-

terface. This interaction reduces the lateral displacement
despite the absence of the confining pressure in the uncon-
fined compression test.
Improvement in UCS due to JF reinforcement is esti-
mated using strength index (Is ):

Is = quj /qun (2)

Where quj is the UCS for the JF reinforced clay and qun is
the UCS for the natural (or unreinforced) clay specimen.
Fig. 3. Variation of maximum dry unit weight with jute
Table 5 summarizes the strength index values. The JF
fiber contents
increases the Is to reach a value of 4.26 for JF=2% and L=2
cm (i.e. UCS of the JF specimen is 4.26 times that for the
natural clay). Maher and Ho [23] found that the Is value is
equal to 1.2 when mixing the Kaolinite clay with 1% glass
fiber and 1% Polypropylene fiber.
A continuous increase in the strength is recognized with
the inclusion of JF up to a value after which the UCS begins
to drop down with increasing strain. JF with a length L=2
cm is more efficient than L= 4 cm.
JF also affects the failure strain during variable fiber
contents or fiber lengths. Another index is adopted to
evaluate specimen’s ductility; that is deformability index
Fig. 4. Variation of optimum moisture content weight with
[24].
jute fiber contents
Id = ε u f /ε un (3)
the specimens are prepared at a specified MDD and loaded where ε u f is the axial strain at failure for the JF reinforced
incrementally at a predetermine time and the axial deforma- clay and ε un is the axial strain at failure for the natural (or
tion was recorded at each increment. This figure indicates unreinforced) clay specimen [24]. Zhang et al. [25] indicates
that the inclusion of JF affects the soil compressibility by that Id was equal to 1.8 when mixing clay with JF%= 1.5%.
reducing the change in the void ratio under a given effec- Fig. 6 indicates that JF increases the failure strain espe-
tive stress. The JF with a length L=2 cm seems to be more cially for fiber length L= 4 cm. The unreinforced clay shows
efficient in reducing the compression index (Cc) to reach strain hardening behavior compared to the reinforced clay
a minimum value at JF= 3% as it appeared in Table 5. A specimens which almost show a strain softening behavior.
good agreement is shown with [19] and [20]. Increasing the Id values with the inclusion of JF, especially
for JF=3%, refers to transformation of reinforced specimens
4.3. Effect of jute fiber JF on unconfined compressive towards the ductile behavior as shown in Table 5. The ten-
strength sile strength of JF gives the clay an ability to deform and
The strength of the unreinforced and reinforced clay speci- fails under larger loading. Moreover, the random distribu-
mens were investigated under the unconfined compression tion of JF within the clay mass enforce the slip surface to
test. The test was carried out at a constant displacement follow a longer and irregular path.
rate (1 mm/min) until the load starts to decrease with fur- Fig. 8 shows the failure pattern for the unreinforced and
ther strain readings at which the unconfined compressive reinforced specimens where they were axially compressed
strength (UCS) is recorded. Similar trends were adopted in till failure. The failure plane is obvious for unreinforced
past studies by [21] and [22]. specimen and reinforced specimen with JF= 0.5% but it
Fig. 6 shows the stress-strain relations of unreinforced is almost disappeared with increasing JF content and a
and reinforced clay. It is obvious that the JF greatly influ- very small cracks mesh is evident at the middle third of
enced the UCS for all fiber’s content and length (as shown specimen’s surface. The inclusion of fiber increase the ten-
in Fig. 7). The rough texture of the jute surface in addition sile strength which restrains the lateral deformation of the
to the random bumps and the irregular pattern of the jute reinforced clay.
66 Zena Hadi Alqaissi et al.

(a) (b)

Fig. 5. Void ratio versus pressure relations at different percentage of jute fiber for the jute length of (a) 2 cm and (b) 4 cm

Table 5. Summary of the strength index values

Symbol γd (gm/cm3 ) wc % Cc UCS (kPa) Is % Id %

C 1.73 18.4 0.132 39 1 1
CJ0.5-2 1.64 19.32 0.124 100.3 2.57 1.19
CJ1-2 1.64 20.52 0.12 89.9 2.3 0.975
CJ2-2 1.63 23.82 0.151 166.1 4.26 1.12
CJ3-2 1.62 19.62 0.113 157.6 4.03 1.46
CJ0.5-4 1.65 19.81 0.105 84.5 2.17 0.585
CJ1-4 1.616 21.91 0.112 78.4 2.01 0.945
CJ2-4 1.612 24.1 0.148 90.3 2.32 1.24
CJ3-4 1.61 18.48 0.206 136.6 3.5 1.49

(a) (b)

Fig. 6. Axial strain versus axial stress relations at different percentage of jute fiber for the jute length of (a) 2 cm and (b) 4 cm
 Journal of Applied Science and Engineering, Vol. 26, No 1, Page 61-68 67

[3] N. Hataf and M. Rahimi, (2006) “Experimental in-

vestigation of bearing capacity of sand reinforced with
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[8] H. Singh and M. Bagra, (2013) “Improvement in CBR
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Sreedeep, (2017) “Compressive strength analysis of soil
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