Proposal of a failure envelope for artificially cemented sand

Abstract Soils are particulate materials, which often stand out for their low shear strength. In most cases, this aspect justifies adapting the geotechnical project for this characteristic, which can be even more problematic in the case of soft sands, since it often occurs in superficial layers in various parts of the metropolitan region of Fortaleza. Therefore, the soil improvement procedure with the addition of small cement fractions can be crucial. The content to be adopted should be such as to bring a more economically viable alternative to the geotechnical design of a shallow foundation, for example. The present research aims to propose a modified Mohr-Coulomb envelope for artificially cemented soils. The proposal is based on the development of two functions that relate shear strength parameters (cohesion and friction angle) with the cement content. In order to assess the proposed functions, triaxial shear tests were performed on the sand with different cement contents. The adjustments presented consistent results. In addition, the proposed envelope was validated using published results encountered in literature.