Behaviour of a Strip Footing Embedded in a Sand Slope Reinforced with Multilayer Geotextile

摘要

This paper presents the results of laboratory model tests and numerical analysis on the behaviour of a strip footing embedded in a multilayer geotextile-reinforced sand slope. The investigation was aimed at determining the effect of footing embedment depth D and number of geotextile layers N on the bearing capacity and settlement characteristics of an embedded footing. The results show that the load-settlement behaviour of the embedded footing is significantly affected by D and N. The advantage of reinforcing the slope with more than one geotextile layer and placing the footing below the slope crest has been evaluated using a non-dimensional parameter, called the ultimate bearing capacity ratio BCRu, defined as the ratio of ultimate bearing capacity of the reinforced case to that of unreinforced case. It is observed that BCRu improves with an increase in N but reduces with an increase in D=B, where B is the footing width. The minimum BCRu, BCRuomin 2 is observed for N 1/4 1 and D=B 1/4 1, while the maximum BCRu, BCRuomax 6 is attained when the footing is placed at D=B 1/4 0 and N 1/4 3. A comparison between the numerical and laboratory test results shows a very good agreement.