Load-settlement response of shallow square footings on geogrid-reinforced sand under cyclic loading

To study the settlement and dynamic response characteristics of shallow square footings on geogrid-reinforced sand under cyclic loading, 7 sets of large scale laboratory tests are performed on a 0.5?m wide square footing resting on unreinforced and geogrid reinforced sand contained in a 3?m?×?1.6?m?×?2?m (length?×?width?×?height) steel tank. Different reinforcing schemes are considered in the tests: one layer of reinforcement at the depth of 0.3B, 0.6B and 0.9B, where B is the width of the footing; two and three layers of reinforcement at the depth and spacing both at 0.3B. In one of the two double layered reinforcing systems, the reinforcements are wrapped around at the ends. The footings are loaded to 160?kPa under static loading before applying cyclic loading. The cyclic loadings are applied at 40?kPa amplitude increments. Each loading stage lasts for 10?min at the frequency of 2?Hz, or until failure, whichever occurs first. The settlement of the footing, strain in the reinforcement and acceleration rate in the soil have been monitored during the tests. The results showed that the ultimate bearing capacity of the footings was affected by the number and layout of the reinforcements, and the increment of bearing capacity does not always increase with the number of reinforcement layers. The layout of the reinforcement layers affected the failure mechanisms of the footings. Including more layers of reinforcement could greatly reduce the dynamic response of the foundations under cyclic loading. In terms of bearing capacity improvement, including one layer of reinforcement at the depth of 0.6B was the optimum based on the test results. It is found that fracture of geogrid could occur under cyclic loading if the reinforcement is too shallow, i.e. for the cases with the first layer of reinforcement at 0.3B depth.     

加筋无黏性土斜坡地基承载力模型试验研究

 采用缩尺模型试验研究加筋斜坡地基坡高范围内,不同加筋层数、不同筋带埋深对其极限承载力及破坏形态的影响。通过对比分析试验成果可获得不同加筋层数下最优筋带埋深组合及各试验地基的变形破坏资料。研究表明,在最优筋带埋深组合下,加筋斜坡地基的首层加筋间距随加筋层数的增加有减小趋势,而极限承载力随加筋层数的增加有增加趋势。根据各试验地基的p-s曲线、筋材破坏情况及变形破坏特征,可将不同加筋条件下斜坡地基的破坏形态分为加筋带之上土体破坏、加筋带层间土体破坏、加筋带之下土体破坏3类,并由此获得对应破坏类型的破坏形态图。研究成果对加筋斜坡地基极限承载力变化特性、变形特征及破坏形态的探究具有一定理论参考价值。     

Behaviour of model footing on bamboo mat-reinforced sand beds

Soil reinforcement is one of the most common and cost-effective methods among ground-improvement techniques. Recently, sustainable and natural materials for soil reinforcement have attracted the attention of soil engineers. Bamboo is considered to be one of the most effective materials for soil reinforcement due to it’s excellent mechanical and engineering properties. This paper discusses the results of laboratory model studies conducted on sand beds reinforced with traditionally woven bamboo mats. An improvement in the bearing capacity of about 2.5 times was seen when the reinforcement was placed at the optimum depth. The effective spacing of the reinforcement between two layers of bamboo mats was found to be equal to the optimum depth value, i.e., 0.3B. An improvement in the bearing capacity of about seven times was observed when four layers of reinforcement were placed at a spacing of 0.3B. The results obtained from the present study reveal the excellent capacity of bamboo mat for soil reinforcement.     

Effect of footing shape and load eccentricity on behavior of geosynthetic reinforced sand bed

This paper presents the results from a laboratory modeling tests and numerical studies carried out on circular and square footings assuming the same plan area that rests on geosynthetic reinforced sand bed. The effects of the depth of the first and second layers of reinforcement, number of reinforcement layers on bearing capacity of the footings in central and eccentral loadings are investigated. The results indicated that in unreinforced condition, the ultimate bearing capacity is almost equal for both of the footings; but with reinforcing and increasing the number of reinforcement layers the ultimate bearing capacity of circular footing increased in a higher rate compared to square footing in both central and eccentrial loadings. The beneficial effect of a geosynthetic inclusion is largely dependent on the shape of footings. Also, by increasing the number of reinforcement layers, the tilt of circular footing decreased more than square footing. The SR (settlement reduction) of the reinforced condition shows that settlement at ultimate bearing capacity is heavily dependent on load eccentricity and is not significantly different from that for the unreinforced one. Also, close match between the experimental and numerical load-settlement curves and trend lines shown that the modeling approach utilized in this study can be reasonably adapted for reinforced soil applications.     

Behaviour of a square model footing on loose sand reinforced with braided coir rope

The effectiveness of horizontally placed braided coir rope reinforcement on the strength improvement and settlement reduction of loose sand is investigated for modeling footings using plate load tests in the laboratory. The influence of parameters such as depth of reinforcement embedment, length, number of layers and number of plies of braided coir rope was examined. The model test results indicate that up to about a six-fold improvement in strength and about ninety percent reduction in settlement (vertical displacement) can be achieved through the use of the proposed reinforcing method. The optimum value of embedment depth of a single layer of braided coir rope reinforcement was identified as 0.4 times the footing width. It was also found that optimal benefit was realized for a length ratio equal to about 3 and by reinforcing the zone of soil directly beneath the model footing upto a depth equal to about 0.6 times the width of footing. Increase in the number of layers within the significant depth leads to a proportionate increase in strength improvement ratio, while the optimal settlement reduction is realized with three layers of braided coir rope reinforcement. Regression analysis carried out with limited experimental data suggests the possibility of developing a predictive model to quantify the strength improvement.     

根据不同桩长对比试验优化设计桩持力层的研究

 通过宁波某工程不同桩长桩的静载试验，对比分析钻孔灌注桩在两个不同持力层深度时桩底注浆与不注浆的承载力和沉降特性。研究结果表明，选择第8土层——粉砂土作为持力层，桩长为55 m，并采用桩底注浆技术能显著地提高桩基承载力和减少桩顶沉降；选择第13土层——含黏土的砂砾层为持力层，其下为基岩，虽然能有效地防止桩端刺入破坏，但由于桩长为88 m，施工时需要穿越第8层厚度达20 m左右的粉砂层，施工难度很大，施工质量难以保证。这易导致桩侧泥皮和桩端沉渣厚度较大，从而降低单桩承载力，使实测桩基承载力达不到设计要求。从定量的角度进行技术经济分析，优化选择桩基持力层，在确保工程桩安全的前提下尽可能降低成本和方便施工，最终选择粉砂土层为持力层。     

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.     

Physical and numerical modelling of strip footing on geogrid reinforced transparent sand

This paper presents the results of laboratory scale plate load tests on transparent soils reinforced with biaxial polypropylene geogrids. The influence of reinforcement length and number of reinforcement layers on the load-settlement response of the reinforced soil foundation was assessed by varying the reinforcement length and the number of geogrid layers, each spaced at 25% of footing width. The deformations of the reinforcement layers and soil under strip loading were examined with the aid of laser transmitters (to illuminate the geogrid reinforcement) and digital camera. A two-dimensional finite difference program was used to study the fracture of geogrid under strip loading considering the geometry of the model tests. The bearing capacity and stiffness of the reinforced soil foundation has increased with the increase in the reinforcement length and number of reinforcement layers, but the increase is more prominent by increasing number of reinforcement layers. The results from the physical and numerical modelling on reinforced soil foundation reveal that fracture of geogrid could initiate in the bottom layer of reinforcement and progress to subsequent upper layers. The displacement and stress contours along with the mobilized tensile force distribution obtained from the numerical simulations have complimented the observations made from the experiments.     

Laboratory tests on geosynthetic-encapsulated sand columns

Granular columns have been introduced into engineering practice to improve the bearing capacity and reduce settlement of sand column in a weak or soft soil. The improvement can be enhanced by encapsulating the column with tensile resistant material. The improvement depends on the confinement offered by the surrounding soil, the reinforcing material and the granular column material. In this study, the extent of improvement for a sand column subjected to constant confining pressures is studied through laboratory experiments. A series of triaxial compression tests were carried out in laboratory to investigate the response of sand columns encapsulated by geotextiles. The tests consisted of triaxial compression tests on sand columns with two different densities and encapsulated by sleeves fabricated from three different geotextiles. The increase in deviatoric stress, the reductions in volumetric and radial strains, and the increase in confining pressure generated by the encapsulating reinforcement were measured and analyzed. The mobilized pseudo-cohesion and friction angle corresponding to various axial strains are analyzed to interpret the reinforcing effect. The experimental results are compared with data obtained from analytical method reported in the literature.     

加筋砂土地基承载力理论与试验分析研究

加筋地基由于其加筋机理的复杂性,其设计和计算理论的研究还是远远落后于工程实践。依据普朗德尔关于地基的基本假定和分析方法,分析了砂土加筋地基的加筋原理;推导了单层加筋地基极限承载力的近似解;讨论了加筋地基承载力与加筋长度和埋置深度的关系等问题。通过与有关加筋地基的模型试验的对比分析,验证了理论分析的合理性和正确性。     

Impact of repeated loading on mechanical response of a reinforced sand

Pavements constructed over loosely compacted subgrades may not possess adequate California bearing ratio(CBR)to meet the requirements of pavement design codes,which may lead to a thicker pavement design for addressing the required strength.Geosynthetics have been proven to be effective for mitigating the adverse mechanical behaviors of weak soils as integrated constituents of base and sub-base layers in road construction.This study investigated the behaviors of unreinforced and reinforced sand with nonwoven geotextile using repeated CBR loading test(followed by unloading and reloading).The depth and number of geotextile reinforcement layers,as well as the compaction ratio of the soil above and below the reinforcement layer(s)and the compaction ratio of the sand bed,were set as variables in this context.Geotextile layers were placed at upper thickness ratios of 0.3,0.6 and 0.9 and the lower thickness ratio of 0.3.The compaction ratios of the upper layer and the sand bed varied between 85% and 97% to simulate a dense layer on a medium dense sand bed for all unreinforced and reinforced testing scenarios.Repeated CBR loading tests were conducted to the target loads of 100 kgf,150 kgf,200 kgf and 400 kgf,respectively(1 kgf = 9.8 N).The results indicated that placing one layer of reinforcement with an upper thickness ratio of 0.3 and compacting the soil above the reinforcement to compaction ratio of 97%significantly reduced the penetration of the CBR piston for all target repeated load levels.However,using two layers of reinforcement sandwiched between two dense soil layers with a compaction ratio of 97%with upper and lower thickness ratios of 0.3 resulted in the lowest penetration.     

Experimental and theoretical studies on the ultimate bearing capacity of geogrid-reinforced sand

Geosynthetic reinforced soil (GRS) structures have gained popularity in replacing concrete rigid piles as abutments to support medium or small-spanned bridge superstructures in recent years. This study conducted 13 model tests to investigate the ultimate bearing capacity of the GRS mass when sand was used as backfill soil. The GRS mass was constructed and loaded to failure under a plane strain condition. Test results were compared with two analytical solutions available in literature. This study also proposed an analytical model for predicting the ultimate bearing capacity of the GRS mass based on the Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion. The failure surface of the GRS mass was described by the Rankine failure surface. The effects of compaction and reinforcement tension were equivalent to increased confining pressures to account for the reinforcing effects of the geosynthetic reinforcement. The proposed model was verified by the results of the model tests conducted in this study and reported in literature. Results indicated that the proposed model was more capable of predicting the ultimate bearing capacity of the GRS mass than the other two analytical solutions available in literature. The proposed model can be used to predict the ultimate bearing capacity of GRS structures when sand was used as backfill material. In addition, a parametric study was conducted to investigate the effects of friction angle of backfill soil, reinforcement spacing, reinforcement strength, and reinforcement stiffness on the ultimate bearing capacity of the GRS mass calculated with and without compaction effects. Results showed that the ultimate bearing capacity of the GRS mass was significantly affected by the friction angle of backfill soil, reinforcement spacing and strength. Compaction effects resulted in an increase in the ultimate bearing capacity of the GRS mass.     

Bearing capacity of strip foundations in horizontal-vertical reinforced soils

The formula for calculating the ultimate bearing capacity of horizontal-vertical reinforced soil is investigated based on the failure mode and the mechanism of sand beds reinforced with horizontal-vertical reinforcement. Two components of soils and reinforcement are calculated separately. The ultimate bearing capacity of a shallow, concentrically loaded strip footing on homogeneous soil is commonly determined using the Terzaghi superposition method. The contribution of horizontal-vertical reinforcement is calculated based on the bearing resistance of the soil against the transverse members. A vertical inclusion is treated as a retaining wall, the confinement being calculated using Rankine's earth pressure theory. An analytical solution is presented including the traditional factors of soil, unit soil weight, footing width, number of horizontal-vertical reinforcement layers, and reinforcement geometry. The results were validated against experimental results and the mean error of the theoretical model was about 10%, with a maximum error of about 20%.     

Investigations on pullout behavior of geogrid-granular trench using CANAsand constitutive model

Experimental and numerical investigations have been carried out on behavior of pullout resistance of embedded circular plate with and without geogrid reinforcement layers in stabilized loose and dense sands using a granular trench.Different parameters have been considered,such as the number of geogrid layers,embedment depth ratio,relative density of soil and height ratio of granular trench.Results showed that,without granular trench,the single layer of geogrid was more effective in enhancing the pullout capacity compared to the multilayer of geogrid reinforcement.Also,increasing the soil density and embedment depth ratio led to an increase in the uplift capacity.When soil was improved with the granular trench,the uplift force significantly increased.The granular trench improved the uplift load in dense sand more,as compared to the same symmetrical plate embedded in loose sand.Although it was observed that,in geogrid-reinforced granular trench condition,the ultimate pullout resistance at failure increased as the number of geogrid layers increased up to the third layer,and the fifth layer had a negligible effect in comparison with the third layer of reinforcement.Finite element analyses with hardening soil model for sand and CANAsand constitutive model for granular trench were conducted to investigate the failure mechanism and the associated rupture surfaces utilized.The response of granular material in the proposed model is an elastoplastic constitutive model derived from the CANAsand model,which uses a non-associated flow rule along with the concept of the state boundary surface possessing a critical and a compact state.It was observed that the granular trench might change the failure mechanism from deep plate to shallow plate as the failure surface can extend to the ground surface.The ultimate uplift capacity of anchor and the variation of surface deformation indicated a close agreement between the experiment and numerical model.     

Bearing capacity of strip footings on sand slopes reinforced with geogrid and grid-anchor

This paper presents the effect of a new type of geogrid inclusion on the bearing capacity of a rigid strip footing constructed on a sand slope. A broad series of conditions, including unreinforced cases, was tested by varying parameters such as geogrid type, number of geogrid layers, vertical spacing and depth to topmost layer of geogrid. The results were then analyzed to find both qualitative and quantitative relationships between the bearing capacity and the geogrid parameters. A series of finite element analyses was additionally carried out on a prototype slope and the results were compared with the findings from the laboratory model tests and to complete the results of the model tests. The results show that the bearing capacity of rigid strip footings on sloping ground can be intensively increased by the inclusion of grid-anchor layers in the ground, and that the magnitude of bearing capacity increase depends greatly on the geogrid distribution. It is also shown that the load-settlement behavior and bearing capacity of the rigid footing can be considerably improved by the inclusion of a reinforcing layer at the appropriate location in the fill slope. The agreement between observed and computed results is found to be reasonably good in terms of load-settlement behavior and optimum parameters.     

Bearing capacity of square footings on geosynthetic reinforced sand

The results from laboratory model tests and numerical simulations on square footings resting on sand are presented. Bearing capacity of footings on geosynthetic reinforced sand is evaluated and the effect of various reinforcement parameters like the type and tensile strength of geosynthetic material, amount of reinforcement, layout and configuration of geosynthetic layers below the footing on the bearing capacity improvement of the footings is studied through systematic model studies. A steel tank of size 900 × 900 × 600 mm is used for conducting model tests. Four types of grids, namely strong biaxial geogrid, weak biaxial geogrid, uniaxial geogrid and a geonet, each with different tensile strength, are used in the tests. Geosynthetic reinforcement is provided in the form of planar layers, varying the depth of reinforced zone below the footing, number of geosynthetic layers within the reinforced zone and the width of geosynthetic layers in different tests. Influence of all these parameters on the bearing capacity improvement of square footing and its settlement is studied by comparing with the test on unreinforced sand. Results show that the effective depth of reinforcement is twice the width of the footing and optimum spacing of geosynthetic layers is half the width of the footing. It is observed that the layout and configuration of reinforcement play a vital role in bearing capacity improvement rather than the tensile strength of the geosynthetic material. Experimental observations are supported by the findings from numerical analyses.     

Load eccentricity effects on behavior of circular footings reinforced with geogrid sheets

In this paper,an experimental study for an eccentrically loaded circular footing,resting on a geogrid reinforced sand bed,is performed.To achieve this aim,the steel model footing of 120 mm in diameter and sand in relative density of 60%are used.Also,the effects of depth of first and second geogrid layers and number of reinforcement layers(1-4) on the settlement-load response and tilt of footing under various load eccentricities(0 cm,0.75 cm,1.5 cm,2.25 cm and 3 cm) are investigated.Test results indicate that ultimate bearing capacity increases in comparison with unreinforced condition.It is observed that when the reinforcements are placed in the optimum embedment depth(u/D = 0.42 and h/D = 0.42),the bearing capacity ratio(BCR) increases with increasing load eccentricity to the core boundary of footing,and that with further increase of load eccentricity,the BCR decreases.Besides,the tilt of footing increases linearly with increasing settlement.Finally,by reinforcing the sand bed,the tilt of footing decreases at 2layers of reinforcement and then increases by increasing the number of reinforcement layers.     

Laboratory model studies on unreinforced and geogrid-reinforced sand bed over stone column-improved soft clay

Results from a series of laboratory model tests on unreinforced and geogrid-reinforced sand bed resting on stone column-improved soft clay have been presented. The diameter of stone column and footing has been taken as 50 mm and 100 mm, respectively for all the model tests carried out. Load was applied to the soil bed through the footing until the total settlement reached at least 20% of footing diameter. As compared to unimproved soft clay, the increase in load-carrying capacity under different improved ground conditions has been observed. Influences of the thickness of unreinforced as well as geogrid-reinforced sand bed and the size of geogrid reinforcement on the performance of stone column-improved soft clay bed have also been investigated. Significant improvement in load-carrying capacity of soft soil is observed due to the placement of sand bed over stone column-improved soft clay. The inclusion of geogrid layer within sand bed further increases the load-carrying capacity and decreases the settlement of the soil. Due to the placement of sand bed, the bulge diameter of stone column reduces while the depth of bulge increases. Further reduction in the bulge diameter and increase in bulge depth are observed due to application of geogrid layer. The optimum thickness of unreinforced sand bed is twice the optimum thickness of geogrid-reinforced sand bed. Under specific material properties and test conditions, it is further observed that the optimum diameter of geogrid layer is thrice the diameter of footing.     

砂基础密实度现场测定方法

利用直径为20mm,长度为1250mm的平头圆钢筋落距为70mm自由下落,量出钢筋插入砂垫层深度,判定砂垫层的密实度是否达到设计要求,以满足地基承载力的要求。     

Laboratory and numerical modeling of strip footing on geotextile-reinforced sand with cement-treated interface

This paper presents the results of a laboratory and numerical study on the effects of cement treatment of the interface between geotextile and sand on the bearing capacity of a foundation built on geotextile-reinforced sand. The bearing capacity of a 25 cm × 7.5 cm strip footing on a 90 cm × 25 cm × 30 cm sand box reinforced using a single-layer reinforcement of different lengths including, 20, 30, 45, 60, 75 and 90 cm, was studied in a laboratory. A cement-treated zone was created on the geotextile to improve the friction and adhesion of the interface zone. Tests were also conducted on reinforced soil without a cement-treated zone and the results were compared. A finite element model was calibrated and used for further studies. The results of the laboratory tests indicated that cement treatment of the interface between the geotextile and sand increases the bearing capacity of the foundation by 6%–17%, depending on the length of the reinforcement. The effectiveness of the cement-treated interface on improving of the bearing capacity is more evident with shorter-length reinforcements. For a certain bearing capacity, the required length of the reinforcement was reduced by approximately 40% when the interface zone of the sand and reinforcement was cement-treated. The effect of the cement-treated zone on the bearing capacity was more evident in low settlement levels, and decreased as the length of the reinforcement increased.