Analysis of geosynthetic reinforced soil structures with orthogonal anisotropy

Abstract

Reinforced soil with geosynthetics as a composite material represents significant orthogonally anisotropic properties. However, current analytical methods usually treat the soil and reinforcement separately, which is not true of practical situations. Therefore, it is difficult to use these methods to study the real effects of the reinforcement. This paper presents an analytical model based on the theory of elasticity for orthogonally anisotropic materials that can be used in analyzing reinforced soil structures with geosynthetics. The stresses and deformations at any point within the reinforced soil structure can be determined by the proposed model. The capabilities of the model have been illustrated by application to an example problem involving a physical model test of a geosynthetic reinforced soil structure. The results of the model prediction are compared with those obtained from the model tests as well as finite element analysis. It is shown that the results of the analytical solution are in good agreement with those of the physical model tests and the finite element analysis.

Measuring mechanical anisotropy on geogrid reinforced soil using a cubical triaxial apparatus

“…Finite element approaches for reinforced soils analysis can be classified into three main categories: nonhomogeneous, homogeneous anisotropic [1,[3][4][5][6][7] and anisotropic multiphase [8][9][10][11][12]. The last two approaches require the implementation of constitutive formulations for the composite material that are, in general, more complex than those used to describe the behaviour of their individual components.…”

“…However, the inclusion of reinforcing elements in the soil may affects the anisotropic behaviour of the soil mass, especially when the reinforcement has a preferential orientation such as is the case of for example geogrids, geotextiles and steel strips. In general, the main factors that influence the anisotropic behaviour of reinforced soil are [1]:  Anisotropy increases with increasing the number of reinforcing layers.  Anisotropy increases with increasing in the reinforcement stiffness.…”

A Modified Harmony Search Algorithm for the Optimum Design of Earth Walls Reinforced with Non-uniform Geosynthetic Layers

“…In addition to aforementioned benefits, in Geosyntheticreinforced soil walls, the cost of the construction is significantly lower than other earth retaining systems [5]. Construction cost is one of the decisive factors in the execution of engineering projects.…”