Experimental Study on the Effect of Geocell on the Behavior of the Strip Footing Resting on the Soil Slope

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 MSc student, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Babol Noshirvani University of Technology, Babol, Iran

2 Civil Engineering Faculty, Babol Noshirvani University of Technology

Abstract

Soil slopes may need to be stabilized due to geometrical conditions, material parameters, and applied loads. Geosynthetics-reinforcement is one of the solutions to stabilize soil slopes, especially under surcharge. The use of geocells as a 3D geosynthetics reinforcement has become very widespread. In this study, using small-scale physical model tests, the role of geocells in evaluating the behavior of strip foundations resting on soil slope with an angle 70° has been investigated. The results showed that in order to increase the bearing capacity of the foundation resting on a steep soil slope, a certain number of geocells are needed and if more than three layers are used, the bearing capacity of the foundation increases. The bearing capacity of soil slope reinforced by three and four geocell layers is 3.6 and 4.9 times that of unreinforced ones, respectively. Due to the membrane behavior of geocells, it causes that the load transfers to the subsoil layers, and if number of reinforcing layers is low, the slope will be failed under relatively low-intensity surcharge. The use of geocells increases the stiffness of the soil slope and reduces the rotation of the foundation and the horizontal displacement of the slope crest compared to the unreinforced case. Also, the use of a sufficient number of geocell layers makes the slope able to absorb more energy and withstand more displacements before failure. Increasing the geocell spacing from 75 to 100 mm has reduced the efficiency of the reinforced slope so that the bearing capacity has decreased by about 35% compared to the geocell with smaller spacing. Also, the stiffness of the reinforced slope decreased by increasing the reinforcement spacing. The bearing capacity of a foundation with an embedment depth of 100 mm is 1.3 times the bearing capacity of a foundation located on a reinforced slope.

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Main Subjects

References

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Journal of Transportation Infrastructure Engineering
Volume 8, Issue 3 - Serial Number 31
December 2022
Pages 91-109

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History

  • Receive Date: 17 July 2022
  • Revise Date: 12 October 2022
  • Accept Date: 13 October 2022

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