Abstract

This paper aims to characterise the effect of cyclic loading, namely the number of cycles, on the behaviour of a soft soil chemically stabilized and reinforced with polypropylene fibres by comparing the results of unconfined compressive strength (UCS) tests carried out before and after a cyclic loading stage. The laboratory work is based on the following tests: (i) monotonic UCS test (reference values); (ii) cyclic UCS test and (iii) monotonic UCS tests performed after the cyclic loading stage (UCSpc). The results show that the unconfined compressive strength and the stiffness increase after the application of a cyclic loading, being this effect more significant with the increase of the number of cycles. The results also show the increase of the permanent axial strain with the number of cycles.