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of soft soil foundation in embankment construction. The experiment showed that the bamboo-pile
reinforcement system can make embankment more stable and safe. Zea Escamilla E et al. [9] used
bamboo material plastered with mortar and cement in building envelope and enabled the same to
exhibit long service life and high efficiency. Gupta S et al. [10] tried to make concrete-soil-bamboo
column composite material by replacing a part of steel and concrete and the tested column withstood
a load of 75kN under 50% of the maximum stress. Cement slab reinforced with bamboo in place of
steel bar can be used as accessible roof of roof panel of cost-effective residence, such as roof panel,
protecting the environment without compromising structural integrity. The addition of bamboo chips
enabled all cement slabs show good ductility before bending failure [11]. Potassium-sodium-soil
polymer was reinforced with bamboo fibers and chips to form bamboo reinforced material – a geo
high polymer and increase the bending strength of soil – bamboo composite. The addition of bamboo
fibers not only increased the bending strength and strain of the composite, but also improved its
toughness, turning the failure mode of the material from brittle failure to ductile failure [12, 13].
Bamboo is a kind of ductile material with a certain tensile strength. It is an ideal substitute of steel
and can be used to support compressed and bent members [14]. Dai Z H et al. [15] proposed a moso
bamboo reinforced soil nail wall – a new retaining structure that uses moso bamboo as soil nail and
pile, as well as bamboo grid shotcrete finishing. The experiment showed 2.5-2.8 time’s pull-out
capacity of bamboo nail in rigid soil and soft clay respectively compared to steel nail, and verified
the stability of the bamboo reinforcement system. Li W T et al. [16] improved the bearing capacity of
bamboo column by pouring cement mortar in bamboo. Based on real project, Dai Z et al. [17] used
bamboo soil nail and bamboo pile in rows as support structure in foundation pit and made finite
element simulation analysis on bamboo soil nail. The result showed that bamboo soil nail and
bamboo pile in rows can increase the stability of foundation pit significantly and are expected to
promote the application of environmental friendly, cost-effective support technology to real projects.
Mansur M A et al. [18] studied the role of bamboo grid in improving the performance of cement
mortar by experiment and found that bamboo grid is highly ductile and brings toughness to cement
mortar, improving the mechanical properties, including tensile strength, bending strength and impact
strength of cement mortar significantly. However, the length of reinforcement of bamboo is limited
due to various shortcomings of bamboo, including uneven material of bamboo whose different parts
have different impact on the mechanical properties of cement-based material, limited length, thin tip,
weak nodes, and unreliable and uneasy connection between bamboo materials. Hong Y et al. [19]
increased the strength of cement soil by adding basalt fiber therein. According to the experiment,
cement soil failed as a whole due to the addition of basalt fiber and exhibited higher strength under
the effect of basalt fiber. Sukontasukkul P et al. [20] enhanced the strength of cement oil significantly
by adding steel bar and polypropylene fiber therein. While the above researches focused on
reinforcement materials indicate that these materials work to a certain extent, there are a number of
things to overcome, including the weak nodes and limited length of reinforcement of bamboo, and
the high cost of reinforcement materials such as basalt fiber and polypropylene fiber. To address
these challenges, this paper puts forward a cotton stalk bale – cement-based material reinforced pile
that is made by pouring cement-based grout into cotton stalk bale, and studies the mechanical
properties of the pile for pointing the way for recycling of cotton stalk waste and industrial blasé
furnace slag and environmental protection.
2. Experimental materials and methods
2.1. Experimental Materials
Soil samples used in the experiment were taken from the soil mass of a foundation pit under
construction in Yancheng. Tests were performed against the soil mass according to the Code for
Design of Building Foundation (GB/T50007-2002) and Standard for Soil Test Method (GB/T50123-
Experimental Research on the Mechanical Properties of Cotton Stalk Bale –cement-based Material Reinforced Pile
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