Load-Settlement Behaviour of Geotextile-Based Geocell Reinforced Sand Bed

Abstract

The potential of application of geotextile-based geocells in improvement of performance of sand foundations is investigated in this study. Model plate load tests conducted on unreinforced and geocell-reinforced sand beds have shown that the use of geocell reinforcement improved the performance of reinforced sand bed, both in terms of bearing capacity and settlement. The bearing capacity of sand bed is found to increase with an increase in reinforcement width (b); however, the benefit is observed marginal for b > 4B (B = width of footing). The results also show a maximum Improvement Factor of about 3.5 for the relative density of 35%, and about 2.4 and 1.9 for the relative density of 70% and 90%, respectively, at s/B = 10%, b/B = 3 (s = settlement of footing). Further, it is found that provision of geocell reinforcement almost arrests the surface heaving of soil, irrespective of the relative density of sand bed.