Original Paper(Vol.59 No.1 pp.62-67)

Application of the Rotary Crushing and Mixing(Twister) Method to the Short Fiber-Reinforced Soils

Noriaki NAKAJIMA and Yukiko SAITO@and Isamu TAKAHASHI and Naoto YOSHIDA@and Suehiko YOKOTA and Yasushi SATO

Abstract:Short Fiber-reinforced soil is effective in enhancing strength, toughness and erosion resistance to rain and water currents. To bring such effectiveness to its full extent, it is important to disperse the bundled Fibers uniformly in the soil. In the conventional method, however, the technology of disentangling and dispersing the bundled Fibers has not yet been fully established. This study report refers to discussions on how to disentangle and disperse the bundled Fibers using the rotary crushing and mixing (Twister) method that does crushing and mixture at the same time and also refers to confirmation regarding the enhanced strength and toughness of the relevant short Fiber-reinforced soil when mixed with cement. Consequently, it has been confirmed that the bundled Fibers, if combined with gravel, make it possible to uniformly mix with other soil materials through disentanglement and dispersion and that the strength and toughness of the relevant short Fiber-reinforced soil mixed with cement are better in mechanical characteristics than those of other improved soil not mixed with short Fibers. The mechanical characteristic of the short Fiber-reinforced soil when mixed with cement will be investigated in the future. And, the erosion resistances etc. are scheduled to examine it.

Key Words:The short Fiber-reinforced soils, The rotary crushing and mixing (Twister) method, Disperse, Disentangle, Strength, Toughness