Effect of infill materials on the performance of geocell reinforced soft clay beds

Abstract

The present study deals with model plate load tests conducted on geocell reinforced soft clay beds to evaluate the effect of infill materials on the performance of the geocell. Commercially available Neoweb geocells are used in the study. Three different infill materials namely aggregate, sand and local red soil were used in the study. The load carrying capacity of the geocell reinforced bed (as compared to an unreinforced bed) was found to be increased by 13 times for the aggregate infill, 11 times for the sand infill and 10 times for the red soil infill. Similarly the reduction in the settlement was in the order of 78%, 73% and 70% aggregate, sand and the red soil infill materials respectively. Results suggest that the performance of the geocell was not heavily influenced by the infill materials. Further, numerical simulations were carried out using FLAC^2D to validate the experimental findings. The results from numerical studies are in reasonably good agreement with the experimental findings. The outcome of this work is successfully implemented in the construction of the geocell foundation to support a 3 m high embankment in the settled red mud in Lanjighar (Orissa) in India.

Keywords:

• geocells
• infill materials
• clay bed
• footing
• bearing capacity
• FLAC