Investigation of the Effects of Weathering and Decay on Soil Stabilized with Rice Straw Fibers

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

1 shahrood university of technology

2 Shahrood university of technology

3 Amirkabir university of technology

Abstract

This study investigates the effect of varying levels of rice straw fiber (RSF) decomposition on the unconfined compressive strength (UCS) of soil stabilized with different cement contents. The evaluation was conducted using the unconfined compressive strength test (UCS) and standard compaction tests (SCT). Additionally, the effect of weathering on the weight changes of soil samples containing different percentages of fibers was examined through freeze-thaw cycle tests. The variables in this research include: Fiber content (0%, 0.25%, 0.5%, and 1%), cement content (0%, 4%, 8%, and 12%) and curing time (0, 7, 14, and 28 days). The objective of examining the effects of decomposition and weathering on natural fibers is to achieve sustainability goals in geotechnical engineering. The results indicated that as the fiber content increased from 0% to 1%, the compressive strength of both dry and wet samples decreased, while the strain at failure increased. In decomposed samples, the compressive strength and strain at failure decreased by 39.28% and 80.69%, respectively. It is noteworthy that stabilized samples containing 12% cement exhibited higher compressive strength than those with 4% and 8% cement, although their strain at failure was lower. In the freeze-thaw cycle tests, the weight loss increased with a higher percentage of fibers, especially in the cured samples. The average R2 values of approximately 0.88 also demonstrate the effectiveness of the Response Surface Methodology (RSM) models.

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Amirkabir Journal of Civil Engineering

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 31 October 2025

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