Behavior of Geocell-Reinforced Sand under a Vertical Load

Geocells have a three-dimensional cellular structure, which can be used to stabilize foundations by increasing bearing capacity and reducing settlements. However, a considerable gap exists between the applications and the theories for the mechanisms of geocell-reinforced foundations. An experimental and numerical study on the behavior of geocell-reinforced sand under a vertical load is presented. A single geocell was filled with sand and subjected to a vertical load to failure. This test process was modeled by using the FLAC3D numerical software to investigate the mechanisms of geocell and sand interactions. Experimental and numerical results both demonstrated that the geocell increased the ultimate bearing capacity and the modulus of the sand. The numerical results include the distributions of displacements in the sand and geocell walls and the distributions of tensile stresses and shear stresses acting on the geocell walls. The numerical results for geocell-reinforced sand are compared to those for sand without geocell.