Improvement Effect of Reticular Glass Fibers on the Mechanical Properties of Tailings Sand with the Lenticle (Layered Sandy Soil)

Glass fiber is a kind of polymer, which can effectively improve the mechanical properties of sand. However, the improvement effect of glass fibers with a reticular structure is different from that of ordinary fibers. At the same time, the sandy soil structure is diversified and part of the soil is layered, such as the lenticle in tailings dam, which often forms layered sandy soil with nearby tailings sand. The existence of the lenticle has adverse effects on the stability of the tailings dam. In order to study the reinforcement effects of reticular glass fibers on tailing sand with the lenticle (layered sand), a series of triaxial shear tests were carried out on the tailings sand by changing the layers of reticular glass fibers and the position of reinforcement. The results demonstrated the following five main points: (1) the shear strength of the tailings with the lenticle is significantly lower than the shear strength of the tailings fine sand, and the influence of the lenticle on the shear strength of the tailings is mainly concentrated on the cohesion. (2) When the reticular fiber is added to the tailings with the lenticle, the cohesion of the sample increases nonlinearly with the increase of the number of fiber layers, while the internal friction angle is basically unchanged. (3) The improvement effect of the reticular fiber on the shear strength of the sample varies with the position of the reinforcement, which is represented as the interface > tailings fine sand > lenticle. (4) Only when the axial strain develops to a certain extent, the reinforcement of the reticular fibers is reflected. (5) The reinforcement effects of reticulated fibers are determined by the interaction of forces at the interface between fibers and sand. The research results can not only provide a scientific basis for the construction of reinforced tailings dam, but also play a guiding role in disaster prevention and mitigation work of reinforced slopes with a weak zone, and even provide the reference for the reinforcement research of layered structures.