Influence of Geocell Reinforcement on Bearing Capacity of Low‑Volume Roads

摘要

This study examined the working principles of the geocell reinforcement in low-volume roads through laboratory testingand finite-element modeling (FEM). A steel box of 1.5 m × 1.2 m × 0.9 m (5 ft. × 4 ft. × 3 ft.) was fabricated to accommodatemultiple pavement layers. A quarter of the laboratory test box was modeled using commercially available FEM software. Alow modulus base and subgrade materials were selected, and the base layer was reinforced with 152 mm (6 in.) high geocellto evaluate the benefits of geocell reinforcement. A dynamic cyclic load of 551 kPa (80 psi) was applied for a set number ofcycles (20,000 in the laboratory and 100 during computer simulations). The laboratory test setup was instrumented to recordthe responses of the material under dynamic cyclic loading. Since the transducers generated substantial data points alongwith associated signal noise, a set of procedures were incorporated to minimize the electronic noise and reduce the data size.The laboratory test results indicated that the geocell-reinforced sections experienced lower vertical stresses imparted on topof the subgrade nearly by 30% in comparison to unreinforced sections. The vertical pressure distribution beneath the geocelllayer suggests that the reinforcement is acting like a combination of flexible and rigid pavement. The geocell-reinforcedlayer performed well even with an increase in stresses from 689 kPa (100 psi) to 827 kPa (120 psi). Although similar hoopstrains trends were observed, the hoop strains estimated from FEM were different than the ones measured in the laboratory.