Experimental and Numerical Investigation of Dynamic Properties of Soil Stabilized by Young Vetiver

The roots of plants are anchored into the soil to support the above-ground parts of vegetation, thereby creating a reinforced soil matrix in which stress is transferred from the soil to the roots, increasing the overall strength of the matrix. In this research, clay stabilized by wire is examined with cyclic large scale direct shear apparatus for determining the dynamic parameters (shear modulus and damping ratio). The number of wires utilized in current research are 0, 10 and 20. Also the effect of shear displacement amplitude on dynamic parameters of stabilized soil was investigated. Experimental models were simulated by Plaxis 2D. The numerical results from the FEM are compared with the experimental results which showed good agreement. For unrooted and rooted samples, secant shear modulus decreases as the shear displacement amplitude increases. Damping ratio was also shown to increase with shear displacement amplitude and root inclusion as soil reinforcement element was proved to induce further increase in damping ratio in comparison to plain model.