Deformation Response of Geocells in Pavements under Moving Loads

Abstract

Geocells are extensively used in pavements as one of the ground improvement techniques. Pavements are subjected to various types of loading pattern and its deformation under these loads plays an important role in its analysis and design. In the present work, a deformation model of geocell has been proposed in which geocell has been idealized as an infinite beam subjected to a concentrated load moving with constant speed. The foundation soil has been modeled as Winkler springs. Influence of magnitude and speed of applied load, flexural rigidity of geocell, modulus of subgrade reaction of foundation soil, mass of beam, viscous damping and interfacial resistance between geocell reinforcement and the neighboring soil on response of geocell has been studied. Non-dimensional charts have been developed for normalized deflection and the bending moment in geocell reinforcement. These charts will be useful while analyzing and designing the pavements under moving loads. A numerical example has also been presented for the better understanding of results from the proposed model.