Evaluating the performance of geocells made from needle-punched nonwoven layers in the bearing capacity of reinforced soil

摘要

This study focuses on the investigation of the effect of constituent elements of geotextile layers on the bearing capacity of geocell-reinforced soil. For this purpose, geocells with different geometries were prepared using polyester nonwoven layers formed by fibers with various cross sections. Series of reduced-scale laboratory model tests were carried out to determine the bearing capacity of footing supported by geocell reinforced soil. The results showed that the bearing capacity of soil increases substantially by provision of geocell. Furthermore, greater improvement in the performance of geocell is observed by increasing the geocell height and decreasing the pocket dimensions. It is also concluded that layers made from blend of fibers with different cross sections improve the bearing capacity of reinforced soil more than those of uniform cross section.