Bearing capacity of circular footing on geocell–sand mattress overlying clay bed with void

The potential benefits of providing geocell reinforced sand mattress over clay subgrade with void have been investigated through a series of laboratory scale model tests. The parameters varied in the test programme include, thickness of unreinforced sand layer above clay bed, width and height of geocell mattress, relative density of the sand fill in the geocells, and influence of an additional layer of planar geogrid placed at the base of the geocell mattress. The test results indicate that substantial improvement in performance can be obtained with the provision of geocell mattress, of adequate size, over the clay subgrade with void. In order to have beneficial effect, the geocell mattress must spread beyond the void at least a distance equal to the diameter of the void. The influence of the void over the performance of the footing reduces for height of geocell mattress greater than 1.8 times the diameter of the footing. Better improvement in performance is obtained for geocells filled with dense soil.     

Uplift capacity of horizontal anchor plate in geocell reinforced sand

The paper investigates the uplift performance of horizontal anchor plate in geocell reinforced sand through a series of model tests. It is noted that the unreinforced anchor plate undergoes a clear failure at a displacement of about 3% of its width, whereas with the provision of geocell and a layer of geotextile right below the geocell mattress significantly increases the uplift capacity by about 4.5 times higher than that of unreinforced sand and could sustain anchor displacement of more than 60%. Results indicates that the geocell mattress by virtue of its rigidity distributes the uplift load in the lateral directions to a larger area, thereby reducing the stress in the overlying soil mass and hence increases the performance of anchor plate system. The provision of the additional geotextile layer right below the geocell mattress is found to be very effective in increasing the stiffness as well as load carrying capacity of anchor plate system. The optimum size (i.e., width and length) of geocell mattress giving adequate load carrying capacity of anchor plate is found to be 5.4 times of anchor width (5.4B). The comparison of model tests results with 3D numerical analysis shows good agreement, indicating that the proposed model is able to capture the uplift load-displacement behaviour of geocell reinforced anchor plate system.     

Geocell reinforcement for performance improvement of vertical plate anchors in sand

In this paper influence of geocell reinforcement on performance of vertical plate anchors is studied. A series of model tests were carried out in a test bed-cum-loading frame assembly. The anchor used was a steel plate of size 100 mm × 100 mm. With geocell reinforcement the anchor could sustain deformations as high as 60–70% of its height when the load carrying capacity was increased by four fold. The optimum length, width, and height of geocell mattress giving maximum performance improvement are found to be 5, 3 and 2.8 times the anchor height respectively. For adequate performance improvement size of geocell pocket opening should be close to the anchor size. The load dispersion angle that depicts the rigidity of the geocell mattress tends to increase with increase in its width, height and reduction in pocket size. A numerical study using fast Lagrangian analysis of continua was carried out. The agreement between observed and computed results is found to be reasonably good.     

Comparison of bearing capacity of a strip footing on sand with geocell and with planar forms of geotextile reinforcement

Comprehensive results from laboratory model tests on strip footings supported on the geocell and planar reinforced sand beds with the same characteristics of geotextile are presented. The various parameters studied in this testing program include the reinforcement width, the number of planar layers of geotextile and height of the geocell below the footing base. Contrary to other researches, the performance of the geocell and planar reinforcement is investigated at the range of low to medium settlement level, similar to those of interest in practice. The results show that the efficiency of reinforcement was decreased by increasing the number of the planar reinforcement layers, the height of the geocell reinforcement and the reinforcement width. For the same mass of geotextile material used in the tests at the settlement level of 4%, the maximum improvement in bearing capacity (IF) and percentage reduction in footing settlement (PRS) were obtained as 2.73 and 63% with the provision of geocell, respectively, while these values compare with 1.88 and 47% for the equivalent planar reinforcement. On the whole, the results indicate that, for the same quantity of geotextile material, the geocell reinforcement system behaves much stiffer and carries greater loading and settles less than does the equivalent planar reinforcement system. Therefore, a specified improvement in bearing pressure and footing settlement can be achieved using a lesser quantity of geocell material compared to planar geotextile.     

Response of pavement foundations incorporating both geocells and expanded polystyrene (EPS) geofoam

The suitability of geocell reinforcement in reducing rut depth, surface settlements and/or pavement cracks during service life of the pavements supported on expanded polystyrene (EPS) geofoam blocks is studied using a series of large-scale cyclic plate load tests plus a number of simplified numerical simulations. It was found that the improvement due to provision of geocell constantly increases as the load cycles increase. The rut depths at the pavement surface significantly decrease due to the increased lateral resistance provided by the geocell in the overlying soil layer, and this compensates the lower competency of the underlying EPS geofoam blocks. The efficiency of geocell reinforcement depends on the amplitude of applied pressure: increasing the amplitude of cyclic pressure increasingly exploits the benefits of the geocell reinforcement. During cyclic loading application, geocells can reduce settlement of the pavement surface by up to 41% compared to an unreinforced case – with even greater reduction as the load cycles increase. Employment of geocell reinforcement substantially decreases the rate of increase in the surface settlement during load repetitions. When very low density EPS geofoam (EPS 10) is used, even though accompanied with overlying reinforced soil of 600 mm thickness, the pavement is incapable of tolerating large cyclic pressures (e.g. 550 kPa). In comparison with the unreinforced case, the resilient modulus is increased by geocell reinforcement by 25%, 34% and 53% for overlying soil thicknesses of 600, 500 and 400 mm, respectively. The improvement due to geocell reinforcement was most pronounced when thinner soil layer was used. The verified three-dimensional numerical modelings assisted in further insight regarding the mechanisms involved. The improvement factors obtained in this study allow a designer to choose appropriate values for a geocell reinforced pavement foundation on EPS geofoam.     

Load-settlement characteristics of large-scale square footing on sand reinforced with opening geocell reinforcement

This paper describes load-carrying characteristics of a series of large-scale steel square footing tests performed on sand reinforced with two types of reinforcement methods. These are full geocell reinforcement (FGR) and geocell with an opening reinforcement (GOR). A thick steel square plate with 500?mm by 500?mm dimensions and 30?mm thickness was used as foundation. The parameters varying in the tests include the depth of geocell mattress (u), width of opening in geocell in the GOR type (w), relative density of sand (D_r) and number of geocell layers (N). The results revealed that the use of GOR and FGR methods enhances significantly the footing load carrying capacity, decreases the footing settlement and decreases the surface heave. It has been found that the use of GOR with an opening width of w/B?<?0.92, has the same improvement effect on the footing load-carrying response as the FGR has (B?=?footing width). Furthermore, with increasing the number of geocell layers from 1 to 2 in both GOR and FGR methods, the footing bearing pressure increases and footing settlement, surface heave and difference of performance between FGR and GOR mattress decrease.     

Effect of reinforcement form on the behaviour of coir geotextile reinforced sand beds

Coir geotextile, a natural geotextile manufactured out of coir fibres, has been recognized as a feasible alternative to geosynthetics for reinforcement applications, due to its longevity and excellent engineering properties. It is best suited for low-cost applications in developing countries due to its availability at low prices compared to its synthetic counterparts. This paper presents the results of plate load test on square model footing resting on sand beds reinforced with coir geotextile in geocell and planar forms. Keeping the characteristics and amount of geotextile the same, the performance of the geocell and planar forms were compared. The results indicate that bearing characteristics clearly depend on the form in which reinforcements are applied. For the same amount of material, coir geocell reinforcement provides better performance compared to planar forms. For a settlement of 15% of foundation width, the maximum improvement in bearing capacity for coir geocell was found to be 7.92 compared to 5.83 in the case of planar forms.     

考虑填料–土工格室相互作用的加筋路堤力学响应研究

针对有砟轨道加筋路堤计算分析中难以考虑土工格室对碎石填料嵌锁及摩擦作用的现状,在大比尺直剪试验基础上建立考虑填料–格室相互作用的三维计算模型。通过室内模型试验验证该计算的可靠度和优越性,进而系统地分析有/无加筋情况下,填料强度、土工格室刚度及地基压缩性等参数对路堤力学响应的影响。结果表明:土工格室的嵌锁作用使得加筋对路堤响应的影响在其布设层发挥程度更大,该影响通过填料与格室及填料内的摩擦作用向周围传递且不断衰减;填料强度较低或地基较软时能加强土工格室对路堤响应的影响,对于填料内摩擦角为20°和地基变形模量为5 MPa的工况而言,加筋后基床侧向位移峰值分别降低60%和72%,应力峰值亦显著降低且分布区域明显扩大;土工格室弹性模量为0.2~2.5 GPa时,路堤力学响应受其影响较大。     

Effect of reinforcement form on the bearing capacity of square footings on sand

This paper presents the results of laboratory model loading tests and numerical studies carried out on square footings supported on geosynthetic reinforced sand beds. The relative performance of different forms of geosynthetic reinforcement (i.e. geocell, planar layers and randomly distributed mesh elements) in foundation beds is compared; using same quantity of reinforcement in each test. A biaxial geogrid and a geonet are used for reinforcing the sand beds. Geonet is used in two forms of reinforcement, viz. planar layers and geocell, while the biaxial geogrid was used in three forms of reinforcement, viz. planar layers, geocell and randomly distributed mesh elements. Laboratory load tests on unreinforced and reinforced footings are simulated in a numerical model and the results are analyzed to understand the distribution of displacements and stresses below the footing better. Both the experimental and numerical studies demonstrated that the geocell is the most advantageous form of soil reinforcement technique of those investigated, provided there is no rupture of the material during loading. Geogrid used in the form of randomly distributed mesh elements is found to be inferior to the other two forms. Some significant observations on the difference in reinforcement mechanism for different forms of reinforcement are presented in this paper.     

加筋垫层对地基沉降控制效果的多方案比较

针对秦沈客运专线 ,结合室内模型试验 ,利用有限元法 ,对不同加筋材料、不同布筋方式的多种加筋垫层方案进行了分析和比较 ,研究加筋垫层对地基沉降的控制作用。分析结果表明 ,土工格室加筋垫层对控制软土地基沉降具有较好的作用。     

Experimental and numerical investigation of the uplift capacity of plate anchors in geocell-reinforced sand

Plate anchors are frequently used to provide resistance against uplift forces. This paper describes the reinforcing effects of a geocell-reinforced soil layer on uplift behavior of anchor plates. The uplift tests were conducted in a test pit at near full-scale on anchor plates with widths between 150 and 300?mm with embedment depths of 1.5–3 times the anchor width for both unreinforced and geocell-reinforced backfill. A single geocell layer with pocket size 110?mm?×?110?mm and height 100?mm, fabricated from non-perforated and nonwoven geotextile, was used. The results show that the peak and residual uplift capacities of anchor models were highest when the geocell layer over the anchor was used, but with increasing anchor size and embedment depth, the benefit of the geocell reinforcement deceases. Peak loads between 130% and 155% of unreinforced conditions were observed when geocell reinforcement was present. Residual loading increased from 75% to 225% that of the unreinforced scenario. The reinforced anchor system could undergo larger upward displacements before peak loading occurred. These improvements may be attributed to the geocell reinforcement distributing stress to a wider area than the unreinforced case during uplift. The breakout factor increases with embedment depth and decreased with increasing anchor width for both unreinforced and reinforced conditions, the latter yielding larger breakout factors. Calibrated numerical modelling demonstrated favorable agreement with experimental observations, providing insight into detailed behavior of the system. For example, surface heave decreased by over 80% when geocell was present because of a much more efficient stress distribution imparted by the presence of the geocell layer.     

Investigation of factors influencing behavior of single geocell-reinforced bases under static loading

Geocell, one type of geosynthetics manufactured in the form of three-dimensional interconnected cells, can be used as a reinforcement to improve the behavior of base courses by providing lateral confinement to increase their stiffness and strength and reduce surface permanent-deformation. However, the use of geocells for base reinforcement is hindered by the existing gap between applications and theories. This study experimentally investigated the factors influencing the behavior (stiffness and bearing capacity) of single geocell-reinforced bases including shape, type, embedment, height of geocells, and quality of infill materials. Three of the four types of geocells investigated in this study were made of novel polymeric alloys using a new manufacturing technology. Repeatability and potential scale effects on test results were examined. The test results showed that the geocell placed in a circular shape had a higher stiffness and bearing capacity than that placed in an elliptical shape. The performance of the geocell-reinforced base depended on the elastic modulus of the geocell sheet. The unconfined geocell had a lower stiffness but a higher ultimate load capacity than the confined geocell. The benefit of the geocell was minimized when the infill material, quarry waste with apparent cohesion, was used as compared with the Kansas River sand without apparent cohesion. The single geocell-reinforced base had a lower stiffness and bearing capacity than the multiple geocell-reinforced base.     

Bearing capacity of geocell reinforcement in embankment engineering

Soil reinforcement using geocells has been utilized in many areas of geotechnical engineering. In this paper, a model and a simple bearing capacity calculation method for the geocell-supported embankment on the soft subgrade were proposed based on the study of the reinforcement functions of a geocell layer in a road embankment. The model and calculation procedures considered both the “vertical stress dispersion effect” and “membrane effect” of geocell reinforcement. They were verified by a laboratory experiment and compared with Koerner's method. The results indicated that the calculated results obtained from the present method were much closer to the experimental results than those from Koerner's method when the foundation settlement is large. The study also indicated that the installation of the geocell onto the crushed stone cushion significantly increased the bearing capacity of the soft subgrade.     

Performance of a road embankment on soft clay supported on a Geocell mattress foundation

A five kilometre-long road was constructed in the New Territories of Hong Kong between 1989 and 1992. Part of the road crossed an alluvial plain on an embankment, and at two locations on the alluvial plain this embankment was underlain by soft clay deposits. A geocell mattress was used as the means of supporting the embankment on these soft clay deposits. Wick drains were installed beneath the embankment to speed up consolidation of the soft clays, and using staged construction the embankment was built up to a maximum height of 10 m.

The embankment was fully instrumented with pneumatic piezometers, inclinometers, hydrostatic profile gauges, settlement plates, surface settlement markers, and lateral movement blocks. This paper presents the results of the instrumentation monitoring and the performance of the geocell mattress foundation during the construction of the embankment. At one section, unusually high excess pore water pressures and a slight heave of the toes of the embankment were recorded. The accompanying small lateral extension and the deflected shape of the geocell mattress indicated that it had behaved as a raft foundation to the embankment.     

高填方加筋新旧路堤现场试验与数值模拟分析

 结合山区高速公路拓宽工程,对土工格室处治高填方新旧路堤进行现场试验,分析加宽高填方路堤侧向位移、沉降及土压力变化规律,研究格室处治效果。在现场试验的基础上,采用三维薄膜单元模拟土工格室的立体加筋性能,建立三维弹塑性模型,分析土工格室受力特点,通过对相关参数的敏感性分析,揭示高填方加宽路堤的变形规律。结果表明,采用三维薄膜单元,能较好地反映土工格室处治现场高填方新旧路堤的规律。与现场试验相比,利用数值试验不仅能得到现场的加筋效果,而且还能通过分析筋材与填料参数的变化和筋材铺设间距来研究格室处治高填方路堤的规律,从而可进一步探讨格室加筋的机制。高填方路堤在加宽路基自重荷载作用下沉降主要集中在加宽路堤的中上部,侧向位移从路基顶面到底部依次逐渐减少。土工格室所在层位起到扩散荷载、减少侧向变形和不均匀沉降的作用。填料与筋材模量愈高,加筋间距愈小,加筋效果愈好,较为合理的铺设间距为2～3 m。该研究成果对高填方路堤加筋处理和新旧路基结合部处理均有借鉴意义。     

土工格室对级配碎石基层的加固效果

土工格室在国内高速公路工程建设中得到了实际应用,并对其加劲效果进行了分析研究。通过某高速公路试验路段,在基层中铺设增强土工格室,与未铺设的作对比,利用现场承载板检测,可见土工格室可使当量回弹模量提高50%以上。再通过BISAR软件反算出路面基层的单层模量,得出土工格室能使单层回弹模量提高2倍以上。利用贝克曼梁弯沉仪,也可得出土工格室使弯沉降低20%以上。     

Vibration response of machine foundations protected by use of adjacent multi-layer geocells

The response of soil beds reinforced with multi-layer geocell systems that support machine foundations is investigated by laboratory testing that incorporates vertical machine vibrations of a square concrete foundation (400 × 400 mm) resting on soil that is unreinforced or reinforced with single-, double- or triple geocell layers. The tests are performed under three different vibration moment levels and three static force levels using a mechanical oscillator and concrete blocks, respectively. The vibration responses are studied in terms of resonant amplitude, resonant frequency, shear modules and damping coefficient. The results reveal that the resonant amplitude significantly reduced in the presence of geocell reinforcement whereas the resonant frequency, shear modulus and damping coefficient increased. In the range of applied vibration load and frequency, and hence the induced amplitude, maximum improvement (i.e., the greatest reduction in vibration amplitude) was observed in the presence of the triple-layer geocell reinforcement. Since the rate of improvement decreases steadily with an increase in the number of geocell layers, thus, further geocell layers would deliver little further benefit. The optimum placement depth of the first geocell layer and vertical spacing of the geocell layers were found to be 0.1 and 0.05 of the foundation's width respectively.     

Static stability analysis of geocell-reinforced slopes

This paper presents an analytical approach to investigate the stability of geocell-reinforced slopes using the limit equilibrium method (LEM). The so-called Horizontal Slice Method (HSM) is employed to simulate horizontal geocell layers. Each geocell layer acts as a beam providing bending and shear resistance in addition to axial strength. A formula is devised by picking relevant governing equilibrium equations, fitted to the new concept employed exclusively for analysis of geocell-reinforced slopes. Parametric studies are conducted to evaluate the effects of increasing the geocell height and replacing geogrids by geocells with various heights for slopes with different characteristics. The results showed that such actions would reasonably reduce the required tension and length of the reinforcement layers, meaning that the stability condition is improved and the less lengthy reinforcement system is formed. Output values also showed dependency on the slope angle and its material properties.     

Repeated loading of soil containing granulated rubber and multiple geocell layers

Sandy soil/aggregate, such as might be required in a pavement foundation over a soft area, was treated by the addition of one or more geocell layers and granulated rubber. It was then subjected to cyclic loading by a 300 mm diameter plate simulative of vehicle passes. After an initial study (that established both the optimum depth of the uppermost geocell layer and of the geocell inter-layer spacing should be 0.2 times plate diameter), repeated loading was applied to installations in which the number of geocell layers and the presence or absence of shredded rubber layers in the backfill was changed. The results of the testing reveal the ability of the composite geocell-rubber-soil systems to ‘shakedown’ to a fully resilient behavior after a period of plastic deformation except when there is little or no reinforcement and the applied repeated stresses are large. When shakedown response is observed, then both the accumulated plastic deformation prior to a steady-state response being obtained and the resilient deformations thereafter are reduced. Efficiency of reinforcement is shown to decrease with number of reinforcement layers for all applied stress levels and number of cycles of applied loading. The use of granulated rubber layers are shown to reduce the plastic deformations and to increase the resilient displacements compared to the comparable non-rubber construction. By optimal use of geocells and granulated rubber, deformations can be reduced by 60–70% compared with the unreinforced case while stresses in the foundation soil are spread much more effectively. On the basis of the study, the concept of combining several geocell layers with shredded rubber reinforcement is recommended for larger scale trials and for economic study.