Reinforcement Mechanism and the Stress-Strain Behaviors of Geocells Made by Non-Woven Geotextile

Abstract

Geocell is one of the most widely used Geosynthetics for reinforcing soil beds in various applications such as base layer pavement and different structures like embankments, foundations, and retaining walls. The Geocells reinforcement mechanisms are vertical and lateral cellular confinement and improve load distribution. Geocells are commonly made from polymer networks such as HDPE (High-density Polyethylene), non-woven Geotextiles, or Geogrids. Each type of Geocell has special advantages and effects on the reinforcement mechanism for the soil bed, dependent on material stiffness and effective opening size. This paper aims to assessing both reinforcement mechanism and the stress-strain behavior of Geocells (non-woven geotextile). For this purpose, 3 series of plate loading tests were conducted on reinforced sand beds. Reinforcement consisted of single cell as well as multi-cells arranged in predefined pattern. The experiments enabled us to determine bearing capacity, soil surface deformation and axial strain of cell wall for different pocket sizes and number of cells. The results indicate that cells with a pocket size equal to the loading plate diameter perform better. Moreover, a comparison of single-cell with multi-cells showed that adding adjacent cells for Geocells with smaller pocket sizes has a more effect on reducing loading plate settlement. In addition, results showed that the axial strain and deformation applied on non-woven geotextile is greater for smaller pocket sizes than for cells with larger pocket sizes.

Keywords: Non-Woven Geotextile, Geocell, Stress-Strain, Bearing Capacity, Reinforced-Sand