This paper presents a numerical investigation on the long-term performance of a geosynthetic-reinforced soil (GRS) pier and a reinforced soil foundation (RSF) under axial loading. A 3D finite-difference program was used to model the performance of the GRS pier and RSF and evaluate the long-term deformations of these structures. To model the creep behavior of the backfill material, the Burgers creep viscoplastic model combining the Burgers model and the Mohr-Coulomb model was used. The input parameters of this model were calibrated based on experimental test results on granular material. To simulate the long-term behavior of the reinforcement layers, the dependency of the geosynthetics tensile stiffness on the generated strain was captured in the simulation. The numerical model was validated against an available long-term large-scale test on a GRS pier. After model validation, the performance of an RSF during 10 years of the service life was investigated. The results of this study showed that the amount of secondary deformation of RSF can increase more than 50% of the immediate settlement during 10 years of service life and the stress distribution and the location of the maximum stress will change with time.
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