Experimental and Numerical Analysis of Geocell-Reinforced Base Layer with Different Infill Materials Overlying Clay

Abstract

This study uses experimental and numerical modeling approaches to investigate the behavior of a square footing that is positioned on a geocell-reinforced base layer with different infill materials, which overlie soft clay subgrade. Three different infill materials, sand, aggregates, and construction demolition (C&D) waste, were used in this study, compacted at different density indexes (Rd; i.e., 50% and 70%). The commercially available geocell with different weld distances (i.e., 330, 356, and 445 mm) were employed in this study. The geocell reinforcement increases the load-bearing capacity of the foundation bed compared with unreinforced cases. The reduction in settlement (s) with the provision of geocell reinforcement is approximately 81.3%, 79.8%, and 71% when C&D waste, aggregates, and sand materials are used in the base layer, respectively. C&D waste materials were a better infill material when reducing surface heaving. To validate the experimental findings, numerical analyses were performed with ABAQUS three-dimensional (3D) finite-element-based software. The results of the numerical analyses are in good agreement with the experimental study results. Further parametric studies, such as the thickness of the base layer (H), stiffness of the geocell (Ks), pocket size of the geocell, and width of footing plate (B), were performed to analyze the performance of the geocell when improving the bearing capacity of the foundation bed.