Undrained triaxial compression tests on three-dimensional reinforced sand: effect of the geocell height

Abstract

This paper presents an experimental thorough study on geocell reinforced loose sand (Dr = 25%), focusing on the improvement of the shear strength in undrained conditions. The experimental program includes a series of undrained compressive tests (CU) performed on loose sand samples with and without reinforcement. The experimental tests are performed for various geocell height (Hg = 15, 25 and 35 mm) and at different level of effective confining pressure (σ’_c = 50, 100 and 200 kPa). The obtained results show a significant effect of geocells height and initial confining pressure on the shear strength of the reinforced sand. The apparent cohesion of the reinforced soil increases linearly with the axial strain while the friction angle is rather constant and slightly dependent on the sample deformation.

Keywords:

• Apparent cohesion
• geocell
• geosynthetics
• mechanical behaviour
• undrained triaxial test

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to thank the reviewers for their constructive and detailed comments. Tests were performed in the Laboratory of Material Sciences and Environment (LsmE) at UHBC University of Chlef. The authors express their gratitude to all who assist in the preparation of this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).