A reinforcing method for steep clay slopes using a non-woven geotextile

The effect of non-woven geotextile reinforcement on the stability and deformation of two clay test embankments is examined based on their performance for about 3 years for the first embankment and about years for the other. Horizontal planar sheets of a non-woven geotextile are expected to work in three ways: for compaction control; for drainage; for tensile reinforcement. The degree of stability of the steep slopes of the test embankments decreased during heavy rainfall. It is found that the use of non-woven geotextile reinforcement may effectively improve embankment performance. Only the stability analysis in terms of effective stresses can explain the performance of the test embankments. The horizontal creep deformation of the embankments during 2–3 years, which is partly attributed to the creep deformation of the non-woven geotextile, was found to be small. The results of both laboratory bearing capacity tests of a strip footing on a model sand ground reinforced with the non-woven geotextile and plane strain compression tests on sand specimens reinforced with the non-woven geotextile show that the non-woven geotextile gives tensile reinforcement to soils.     

Residual Deformation of Geosynthetic-Reinforced Sand in Plane Strain Compression Affected by Viscous Properties of Geosynthetic Reinforcement

A series of plane strain compression (PSC) tests were performed on large sand specimens unreinforced or reinforced with prototype geosynthetic reinforcements, either of two geogrid types and one geocomposite type. Local tensile strains in the reinforcement were measured by using two types of strain gauges. Sustained loading (SL) under fixed boundary stress conditions and cyclic loading (CL) tests were performed during otherwise monotonic loading at a constant strain rate to evaluate the development of creep deformation by SL and residual deformation by CL of geosynthetic-reinforced sand and also residual strains in the reinforcement by these loading histories. It is shown that the creep deformation of geosynthetic-reinforced sand develops due to the viscous properties of both sand and geosynthetic reinforcement, while the residual deformation of geosynthetic-reinforced sand during CL (defined at the peak stress state during CL) consists of two components: i) the one by the viscous properties of sand and reinforcement; and ii) the other by rate-independent cyclic loading effects with sand. The development of residual deformation of geosynthetic-reinforced sand by SL and CL histories had no negative effects on the subsequent stress-strain behaviour and the compressive strength was maintained as the original value or even became larger by such SL and CL histories. The local tensile strains in the geosynthetic reinforcement arranged in the sand specimen subjected to SL decreased noticeably with time, due mainly to lateral compressive creep strains in sand during SL of geosynthetic-reinforced sand. This result indicates that, with geosynthetic-reinforced soil structures designed to have a sufficiently high safety factor under static loading conditions because of seismic design, it is overly conservative to assume that the tensile load in the geosynthetic reinforcement is maintained constant for long life time. Moreover, during CL of geosynthetic-reinforced sand, the residual tensile strains in the geosynthetic reinforcement did not increase like global strains in the geosynthetic-reinforced sand that increased significantly during CL. These different trends of behaviour were also due to the creep compressive strains in the lateral direction of sand that developed during CL of geosynthetic-reinforced sand.     

Effects of Reinforcement type and Loading History on the Deformation of Reinforced Sand in Plane Strain Compression

To evaluate the effects of reinforcement type in terms of stiffness, viscous property, rupture strength, shape and loading history on the stress-strain behaviour during primary, sustained and cyclic loading of reinforced sand, a series of drained plane strain compression tests were performed on Toyoura sand. The sand specimens were reinforced with two types of polymer geogrid as well as two types of metal grid, having largely different stiffness values and surface conditions. Despite that the effects of reinforcement type on the overall stress-strain characteristics of reinforced sand and their rate-dependency are significant during primary loading, the effects are much smaller than the difference in the stiffness of reinforcement. The effects of reinforcement type on the global unloading behaviour and the residual strain by cyclic loading during otherwise global unloading are generally insignificant or negligible. The residual strains by cyclic loading of reinforced sand became substantially small by preloading as well as pre-sustained loading and pre-cyclic loading at higher load levels. With this procedure, polymer geosynthetic reinforcement, which is much more extensible and viscous than metal reinforcement, can be used to reinforce soil structures allowing very limited residual deformation.     

土工格栅控制液化土体流动变形的试验研究

液化导致的土体大变形以及侧向流动是地震引起建筑物破坏的主要原因。采用土工格栅作为主要加固材料,开展建筑物荷载作用下液化场地流动变形的振动台试验研究,考虑水平层状土工格栅、包裹状土工格栅和土工格栅+无纺布联合处理等3种加固方案对结果的影响,从超孔隙水压力发展、建筑物沉降量以及格栅应变特性等分析加固方案对液化变形的处理效果。试验表明:采用上述3种加固方案所得的相同埋深处超孔隙水压力峰值基本相等,表明土工格栅的加入基本不能改变地基的液化状态,而后期超孔隙水压力在土工格栅+无纺布联合加固方案下消散速度最快。与其它两种加固方案相比,土工格栅+无纺布联合加固方案下建筑物沉降量最小,相比未加固工况沉降量减少24%,土工格栅中间位置的应变峰值小于边缘位置的应变峰值。采用土工格栅+无纺布联合加固时,具有较大表面积的无纺布对该覆盖区域液化土体有较好的约束作用,限制了砂土颗粒的竖向移动。此外,砂土颗粒对无纺布的作用力将由土工格栅承担,这种作用力将有利于土工格栅与砂土之间的摩擦效应,进一步限制液化砂土的流动变形。     

A numerical modelling technique for geosynthetics validated on a cavity model test

Numerical modelling approaches can aid in designing geotechnical constructions involving geosynthetics. However, the reliability of numerical results depends on how the model is developed, the constitutive model, and the set of parameters used. By comparing the numerical results with experiment, the present work verifies a numerical modelling technique developed to model multilayered geosynthetic lining systems for landfills. The numerical modelling technique involves strain softening at interfaces and allows the axial stiffness of the geosynthetics to evolve as a function of strain. This work focuses on a two-dimensional finite-difference model, which is used to simulate three types of experimental tests: conventional uniaxial tensile tests, direct shear tests, and a large-scale test that was used to assess the overall mechanical behaviour of a reinforced geosynthetic system that spanned over a cavity. This reinforced geosynthetic system consisted of a 50 kN/m polyvinyl alcohol geogrid reinforcement embedded in a layer of sand, a geosynthetic clay liner, a high-density polyethylene geomembrane, and a non-woven needle-punched geotextile. The uniaxial tensile tests, direct shear tests, and the large-scale test were numerically modelled and the numerical results were compared with experimental results. The results of the numerical modelling technique presented very closely match the results of the three experimental tests, which indicates that the numerical model correctly predicted the measured data.     

An experimental evaluation of the behavior of footings on geosynthetic-reinforced sand

This research was performed to investigate the behavior of geosynthetic-reinforced sandy soil foundations and to study the effect of different parameters contributing to their performance using laboratory model tests. The parameters investigated in this study included top layer spacing, number of reinforcement layers, vertical spacing between layers, tensile modulus and type of geosynthetic reinforcement, embedment depth, and shape of footing. The effect of geosynthetic reinforcement on the vertical stress distribution in the sand and the strain distribution along the reinforcement were also investigated. The test results demonstrated the potential benefit of using geosynthetic-reinforced sand foundations. The test results also showed that the reinforcement configuration/layout has a very significant effect on the behavior of reinforced sand foundation. With two or more layers of reinforcement, the settlement can be reduced by 20% at all footing pressure levels. Sand reinforced by the composite of geogrid and geotextile performed better than those reinforced by geogrid or geotextile alone. The inclusion of reinforcement can redistribute the applied footing load to a more uniform pattern, hence reducing the stress concentration, which will result reduced settlement. Finally, the results of model tests were compared with the analytical solution developed by the authors in previous studies; and the analytical solution gave a good predication of the experimental results of footing on geosynthetic reinforced sand.     

Behavior of geogrid–reinforced sand and effect of reinforcement anchorage in large-scale plane strain compression

This paper presents experimental investigations on the behavior of geogrid–reinforced sand featuring reinforcement anchorage which simulates the reinforcement connected to the wall facings in numerous in-situ situations. A series of large plane strain compression tests (the specimen 56 cm high × 56 cm wide × 45 cm long) was conducted. Standard Ottawa sand and 4 types of PET geogrids exhibiting 5% stiffness in the range of 750–1700 kN/m were used in this study. The specimens were tested by varying the relative density of sand, confining pressures, geogrid types, and reinforcement-anchorage conditions. Experimental results indicate that relative to unreinforced specimens, both anchored and non-anchored geogrid reinforcements can enhance the peak shear strength and suppress the volumetric dilation of reinforced soil. The studies on anchorage revealed that anchoring the reinforcement can restrain the lateral expansion of reinforced specimens, resulting in a substantial increase in shear strength and a reduction in volumetric dilation. The strength ratios of non-anchored specimens appeared to be insensitive to the reinforcement stiffness, whereas the strength ratios of the anchored specimens increased markedly with increases in soil density, reinforcement stiffness, and system deformation (i.e., axial stain). Geogrid anchorage contributed a large percentage of the total shear-strength improvement, nearly 3-times more than the contribution of the soil–geogrid interaction in non-anchored specimens. Lastly, an analytical model was developed based on the concept that additional confinement is induced by reinforcement anchorage, and the predicted shear strength of the anchored soil was verified based on the experimental data.     

A quasi-2D exploration of optimum design settings for geotextile-reinforced sand in assistance with PIV analysis of failure mechanism

Many earlier studies were focused on testing different types of geosynthetics to investigate effect of reinforcement on bearing capacity, but the effect of tensile strength on the failure mechanism has not been examined sufficiently. Within this scope, a test setup was prepared to apply strip loads on densely compacted reinforced sand under the plane strain condition. The tank containing the reinforced sand was a rectangular prism with perfect transparency, and its interior dimensions were 960 × 200 × 650 mm³. Firstly, optimum values of design variables (depth of first sheet, length and number of sheets, space between sheets, tensile strength of sheets) for the woven geotextile reinforced sand were determined experimentally. Then, the failure mechanisms of the soil, which were reinforced with geotextiles of different tensile strengths, were observed and analyzed with particle image velocimetry (PIV) technique. Consequently, the failure mechanism of the sand with a single geotextile reinforcement was similar to general shear failure of unreinforced soil. Contrarily, the failure surfaces were deeper and longer. Additionally, the deep-footing mechanism reached out large depth in the case of four reinforcement layers. The failure mechanism converted into a punching type due to a hypothetic increase in the bearing depth of reinforcement.     

Laboratory determination of clay-geotextile interaction

Current design regulations preclude the usage of cohesive backfills in reinforced soil structures regardless of whether the reinforcement is metallic or polymer fabric. The main reasons for this are: firstly, cohesive materials can be expansive; and secondly, the maximum bond strength between the reinforcement and the clay is normally not expected to be more than the undrained strength of the clay, giving no advantage. However, low-plasticity (so-called semi-cohesive) soils are not expansive and could be used in reinforced soil structures provided the reinforcement can give an increase in strength. A large number of shearbox and pull-out tests have been carried out to investigate which are the major factors governing the clay-geotextile interaction in both undrained and drained conditions. Woven and non-woven fabrics and meshes were used in the tests. The results have shown that the shearing strength of clay can be increased by properly selected geotextile reinforcement in both undrained (short-term) and drained (long-term) loading. It has been also shown that the pull-out resistance of the geotextile reinforcement is essentially proportional to the normal stress and for high transmissivity geotextiles or for geogrids it is limited by the tensile strength and relaxation of the material. The low transmissivity however is also a factor obstructing the development of high pull-out resistance in undrained conditions. The results indicate that geotextile reinforced cohesive backfill might be a viable alternative in reinforced soil structures if good-quality granular backfill material is not readily available.     

Behaviour of prestressed geotextile-reinforced sand bed supporting a loaded circular footing

In the past, the beneficial effects of prestressing the geosynthetic in reinforced soil foundations have been studied mathematically. It is timely to experimentally investigate the degree of improvement generated by prestressing the geosynthetic layer for several embedment depths of a footing resting on a reinforced sand bed. Therefore, laboratory physical model tests and finite element analyses were conducted to study the behaviour of prestressed geotextile-reinforced sand bed supporting a loaded circular footing. The addition of prestress to the geotextile reinforcement results in significant improvement to the settlement response and the load-bearing capacity of the foundation. For a surface footing, the load-carrying capacity at 5 mm settlement for the prestressed case (with prestress equal to 2% of the allowable tensile strength of the geotextile) is approximately double that of the geotextile-reinforced sand without prestress. The beneficial effects of the prestressed geotextile configuration were evident for greater footing depths, in comparison with unreinforced and reinforced (without prestress) counterparts. Experimental and numerical results were also used to validate a few empirical relationships, which are commonly used for solving soil-structure interaction problems. The results obtained from finite element analysis using the program, PLAXIS are generally found to be in reasonabaly good agreement with experimental results.     

Shear strength characteristics of geosynthetic reinforced rubber-sand mixtures

Shear strength characteristics of the geosynthetic-reinforced rubber-sand mixture (RSM) has been investigated by conducting Unconsolidated Undrained (UU) triaxial test. In the first part, a series of UU triaxial tests have been carried out to know the size effect of granulated rubber/tyre chips from seven different rubber sizes. RSM sample that provides higher strength, energy absorption capacity and stiffness is considered as the optimal size and has been used in the investigation on geosynthetic-reinforced RSM. In the second part, shear strength characteristics of geosynthetic-reinforced RSM has been investigated by varying proportions of rubber content (50% and 75% rubber by volume), type of geosynthetic (geotextile, geogrid and geonets), number of geosynthetics (1–4) layers, geosynthetic arrangement and confining pressure. The results demonstrate that RSM reinforced with geosynthetic has enhanced peak strength, failure strength and corresponding axial strain at failure. Fifty percent RSM reinforced by geotextile and 75% RSM reinforced by geonets with 4 layers of reinforcement, led to a maximum increase in shear strength. The strength and energy absorption capacity are doubled for the reinforced RSM's, and reduced the brittleness index values as close to zero, which depends on the type, number of layers and arrangement of geosynthetic.     

Clay—Geotextile interaction in large retaining wall models

Large geotextile reinforced clay wall models were built to investigate the mechanism of clay—geotextile interaction and the effects of the geotextile reinforcement on the load-bearing capacity of the clay. A silty clay soil (CL) with an undrained strength of 25 kPa was used as backfill and a low-cost, non-woven, needle-punched geotextile as the reinforcement. No face panels were used. The wrapped back geotextile reinforcement provided the face of the wall. The wall models were tested under uniformly distributed and discrete strip loads. Vertical and horizontal displacements as well as geotextile strains were monitored. The load-bearing capacity of the clay was increased nearly two times with the geotextile reinforcement. For the interpretation of the test results total stress analysis was carried out on the active failure plane taking into account the tensile forces acting in the geotextiles reinforcing layers intersecting the failure plane. Good agreement was found between the measured and the calculated failure loads. The results of the testing programme are promising and encourage further research into the applicability of cohesive soils in geotextile-reinforced soil structures which might have great economic significance in areas where good-quality granular backfill is not readily available.     

Strength enhancement of geotextile-reinforced carbonate sand

The mechanical behavior of carbonate sand reinforced with horizontal layers of geotextile is invetigated using a series of drained compression triaxial tests on unreinforced and reinforced samples. The main factors affecting the mechanical behavior such as the number of geotextile layers, their arrangement in specimens, confining pressure, particle size distribution, geotextile type and relative density of samples were examined and discussed in this research. To make a precise comparison between the behavior of reinforced siliceous and carbonate sand, triaxial tests were performed on both types of sands. Results indicate that geotextile inclusion increases the peak strength and strain at failure, and significantly reduces the post-peak strength loss of carbonate specimens. The amount of strength enhancement rises as the number of geotextile layers increases while two other parameters including confining pressure and particle size affect adversely. The strength enhancement of reinforced carbonate sand is greater than the corresponding siliceous sample at high axial strains. Reinforced and unreinforced carbonate specimens exhibit more contractive behavior than their corresponding siliceous samples and tend to dilate at higher axial strains. By increasing the relative density of the samples, the peak strength of reinforced specimens rises due to enhanced interlocking between geotextile layers and sand particles. This process continues as long as the geotextile is not ruptured. The utilization of geotextiles with high mass per unit areas was found to be uneconomical due to slight differences between the strength augmentation of geotextiles with high and low mass per unit areas. It should be noted that geotextile layers limit the lateral expansion of specimens which leads to changing the failure pattern from a shear plane to bulging between the adjacent layers of geotextile.     

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 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.     

土工织物加筋堤坝软基的非线性分析

通过非线性有限单元法分析了堤坝下软基土工织物的加筋效果,土与土工织物的界面强度对加筋效果的影响,多层土工织物的加筋效果等问题,得出了最优加筋层数、加筋垫层应力扩散效果等一系列对工程设计有用的结论     

加筋风积砂地基承载力试验研究及计算分析

针对沙漠地区风积砂土特殊的物理力学性质，以土工格栅为加筋材料对风积砂土进行加固。通过室内模型试验，对未加筋的风积砂土和15种布筋方式下的加筋风积砂地基承载力进行了试验研究。测定了各种布筋方式下加筋风积砂土的极限破坏荷载，分析了加筋土的变形以及应力扩散情况。根据试验结果，总结了不同布筋方式及不同埋深条件下，加筋风积砂地基承载力的变化规律，并推荐片式双层格栅为施工中有效的布筋方式，此布筋方式下的加筋风积砂地基承载力较风积砂地基承载力增加1．2倍。提出了加筋风积砂土的强度机理和破坏模式，建立了无埋深条件下片式单层格栅加筋风积砂地基承载力的计算公式。经试验验证，所得结果具有实用价值。     

土工合成材料加筋砂土三轴试验研究

本文以 5种国产土工合成材料为加筋材料 ,它们分别是针刺无纺土工织物、涤纶纤维经编土工格栅、玻璃纤维土工格栅、聚丙烯双向土工格栅和聚乙烯土工网 ,用三轴试验比较各种土工合成材料对砂土的加筋效果 ,得到一些有益的结论 ,可指导土工合成材料的优选和研究加筋机理 ,同时指出部分国产土工合成材料产品的不足。     

Shaking table tests on gravel slopes reinforced by concrete canvas

The behaviour and performance of different reinforced slopes during earthquake loading were investigated through a series of shaking table tests. Concrete-canvas and composite reinforcement (geogrid attached to concrete-canvas) were proposed for reinforcing slopes. By considering the effects of different reinforcement methods, the seismic responses of the reinforced slopes were analysed, along with the accelerations, crest settlements, and lateral displacements. The failure patterns of different model slopes were compared using white coral sand marks placed at designated elevations to monitor the internal slide of the reinforced slopes. Both the concrete-canvas and composite reinforcement could increase the safety distance, which ranged from the slide-out point to the back of the model box. The composite reinforcement decreased the volume of the landslide and increased the failure surface angle as a result of the larger global stiffness in the reinforced zone. These results indicate that the recently developed concrete canvas has a better effect on restricting the slope deformation during seismic loading than the nonwoven geotextile reinforcement, and that the use of composite reinforcement could improve the seismic resistance of slopes.     

基础局部沉降下土工格栅加筋衬垫系统变形特性的试验研究

基础局部沉降会引起垃圾填埋场衬垫系统中的土工膜产生较大的拉应变,有可能导致衬垫系统性能下降,因此正确评价衬垫系统的应变就显得非常重要。通过模拟试验,采用应变片和位移计对基础发生局部沉降后土工格栅加筋衬垫系统的变形进行试验研究。试验结果表明:环境温度对衬垫系统的变形影响较大;相同组成材料下土工格栅和土工膜叠放在一起比其他方案更能降低土工膜的应变;衬垫系统刚度对沉陷范围影响不大,但对最大应变值影响较大。所得结果对垃圾填埋场衬垫系统的设计具有一定的指导意义。