An Experimental and Numerical Investigation of Strip Footing Behavior on Geogrid-Reinforced Embankment Resting on Soft Soil

Abstract

The study aims to assess the impact of geogrid reinforcement on embankments over soft soil subjected to strip loading through experimental and finite element method–based numerical analyses. Various factors, including footing location, geogrid depth, length, and the number of layers, were systematically varied to evaluate their influences on the bearing capacity of strip footing on top of slope. The study shows that an increase of up to 75 % in bearing capacity was observed for the reinforced slopes with the use of multiple geogrid layers at optimum depths and lengths. Further, the optimum number of geogrid layers is contingent upon the footing location. Moreover, the effectiveness of single basal reinforcement for different footing locations and dimensions was explored, and an improvement of up to 34.5 % was observed in bearing capacity. Further, the results indicate that effective improvement in bearing capacity through basal reinforcement is only possible when the failure zone penetrates the interface between the embankment and base soil. Otherwise, the use of multiple layers of reinforcement at shallower depths is proved to be more effective.