Experimental Study of a Strip Footing under Inclined and Eccentric Load on Geogrid Reinforced Sandy Soil

Abstract

This study investigates the "bearing capacity" of a strip footing subjected to inclined and "eccentric load" on geogrid reinforced sandy soil by using physical modeling. The effect of each of the "depth ratio" of the first sheet of reinforcement, the vertical space ratio between consecutive sheets, number of reinforcement sheets, and the effective "depth ratio" of reinforcement on the "bearing capacity" were investigated. Also, the combined effect of load inclination angle, eccentricity ratio of the load and the relative density on the ultimate "bearing capacity" were studied. The results illustrated that by increasing the number of reinforcement sheets, the "bearing capacity" increased, but there is an optimum value (4-5). The optimum "depth ratio" of the first sheet of reinforcement was 0.35B. The optimum vertical space ratio between consecutive sheets was 0.25B. Using a test results with helping a statically analysis software program, a new easy and reliable empirical equation for computing the ultimate "bearing capacity" of the strip footing subject to inclined and eccentric load supported on geogrid reinforced sandy soil was developed.