Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Behaviour of circular footings confined by rigid base and geocell reinforcement

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Arabian Journal of Geosciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Soil in nature may exist in a stratified state. A possible condition is the case of a rigid layer underlying a weak sand stratum. In this instance, the bearing capacity of a shallow footing is affected by the lower rigid boundary. The treatment of thin soil layer by geocell reinforcement to raise the load carrying capacity of single shallow footing has been limited in the literature. Accordingly, rigid base and geocell reinforcement are investigated separately and in combination to study their influence on the behaviour and BC of shallow circular footings in dry sand bed. To capture that effect, different size rigid circular footings were tested on a bed in fully instrumented small- and large-scale laboratory installations. The ratio of sand layer thickness to footing diameter was changed considering optimum dimension and embedment depth for geocell mattress. The extensive laboratory part involved monitoring subgrade deformations, soil-geocell stresses and strains revealing the appropriate models for failure mechanisms in the presence of such confinements. Large increase in bearing capacity up to 225% and significant settlement reduction up to 66% are measured for the combined case. Base confinement less than three times the footing diameter in combination with the geocell mattress resulted in favourable higher design performance factors. New equations are proposed to estimate these factors for design and to extend classical formulations for footings strengthened by combined geocell-base confinement. A design performance factor is dependent on footing diameter, sand relative density and the ratio of layer thickness to footing diameter. As this ratio increases, this design factor decreases reaching a constant value at the critical depth.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10

Similar content being viewed by others

Data availability

All data, models and code generated or used during the study appear in the submitted article.

Abbreviations

b :

Width of the geocell layer

B :

Footing width

C :

Soil cohesion

C c :

Curvature coefficient

C u :

Uniformity coefficient

d :

Geocell pocket size

D 50 :

Medium grain size

D r :

Relative density

e max :

Maximum void ratio

e min :

Minimum void ratio

G s :

Specific gravity of soil

h :

Height of geocell layers

H :

Thickness of soil layer

H cr :

Critical thickness of soil layer

K a :

Active earth pressure coefficient

K γ :

Correction factor due to the RB

L :

Footing length

m 2 :

Constant factor

N c, N q, N γ :

Bearing capacity factors

N γ * :

Modified bearing capacity factor

p :

Applied pressure on geocell layer

P u :

Pressure cell records

q :

Applied pressure on the footing

q u :

Ultimate bearing capacity

R :

Fitting correlation coefficient

R γ :

Correction factor due to the GR

S c, S q, S γ :

Shape factors

S γ * :

Modified shape factor

u :

Geocell embedded depth

X :

Rupture surface width for unreinforced sand

φ :

Soil frictional angle

δ :

Interface shear angle between the cell wall and the infill soil

γ :

Soil unit weight

γ d :

Dry unit weight of the soil

σ vm :

Average vertical stress

BC:

Bearing capacity

BCR:

Bearing capacity ratio

DPF:

Design performance factors

GR:

Geocell reinforcement/reinforced

PRS:

Percentage reduction of settlement

RB:

Rigid base

SP:

Poor graded sand

References

  • Avesani Neto JO, Bueno B, Futai M (2013) A bearing capacity calculation method for soil reinforced with a geocell. Geosynth Int 20(3):129–142

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Been K, Jefferies MG (1985) A state parameter for sands. Géotechnique 35(2):99–112

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown R, Valsangkar AJ, Schriver AB (2004) Centrifuge modeling of surface footings on a sand layer underlain by a rigid base. Geotech Geol Eng 22(2):187–198

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bush DI, Jenner CG, Bassett RH (1990) The design and construction of geocell foundation mattresses supporting embankments over soft grounds. Geotext Geomembr 19(1):83–98

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Butterfield R (1999) Dimensional analysis for geotechnical engineers. Géotechnique 49(3):357–366

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cerato AB, Lutenegger AJ (2006) Bearing capacity of square and circular footings on a finite layer of granular soil underlain by a rigid base. J Geotech Geoenviron Eng ASCE 132(11):1496–1501

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cerato AB, Lutenegger AJ (2007) Scale effects of shallow foundation bearing capacity on granular material. J Geotech Geoenviron Eng ASCE 133(10):1192–1202

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dash SK, Krishnaswamy NR, Rajagopal K (2001) Bearing capacity of strip footings supported on geocell-reinforced sand. Geotext Geomembr 19(4):235–256

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dash SK, Sireesh S, Sitharam TG (2003a) Behaviour of geocell-reinforced sand beds under circular footing. Ground Improv 7(3):111–115

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dash SK, Sireesh S, Sitharam TG (2003b) Model studies on circular footing supported on geocell reinforced sand underlain by soft clay. Geotext Geomembr 21(4):197–219

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dash SK, Rajagopal K, Krishnaswamy NR (2007) Behaviour of geocell-reinforced sand beds under strip loading. Can Geothech J 44(7):905–916

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Beer E (1965) The scale effect on the phenomenon of progressive rupture in cohesionless soils. In Proc 6th Int Conf Soil Mechanic Found Eng, Canada, Vol (2) No 3–6 pp: 13–17

  • Eid HT, Alansari OA, Odeh AM, Nasr MN, Sadek HA (2009) Comparative study on the behavior of square foundations resting on confined sand. Can Geothech J 46(4):438–453

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fakher A, Jones CJFP (1996) Discussion on bearing capacity of rectangular footings on geogrid reinforced sand. by Yetimoglu, T., Wu, J.T.H., Saglamer, A., 1994. J Geotech Eng 122:326–327

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fazeli Dehkordi P, Ghazavi M, Ganjian N, Karim UFA (2019a) Effect of geocell-reinforced sand base on bearing capacity of twin circular footings. Geosynth Int 26(3):224–236

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fazeli Dehkordi P, Ghazavi M, Ganjian N, Karim UFA (2019b) Parametric study from laboratory tests on twin circular footings on geocell-reinforced sand. Sci Iran. https://doi.org/10.24200/SCI.2019.51471.2208

  • Han J, Yang X, Leshchinsky D (2008) Behavior of geocell-reinforced sand under a vertical load. Transportation Research Record. J Transp Res Board 2045:95–101

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hegde A (2017) Geocell reinforced foundation beds-past findings, present trends and future prospects: a state-of-the-art review. Constr Build Mater 154:658–674

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hegde A, Sitharam TG (2013) Experimental and numerical studies on footings supported on geocell reinforced sand and clay beds. Int J Geotech Eng 7(4):346–354

  • Hettler A, Gudehus G (1988) Influence of the foundation width on the bearing capacity factor. Soils Found 28(4):81–92

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koerner RM (2012) Designing with geosynthetics, vol 2, 6th edn. Xlibris Corporation, Lexington

    Google Scholar 

  • Lal D, Sankar N, Chandrakaran S (2017) Behaviour of square footing on sand reinforced with coir geocell. Arab J Geosci 10:345

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mandel J, Salençon J (1972) Force portante d'un sol sur une assise rigide (étude théorique). Géotechnique 22(1):79–93

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Matlab (2015) Computer software. MathWorks, Natick

    Google Scholar 

  • Meyerhof GG (1974) Ultimate bearing capacity of footings on sand layer overlying clay. Can Geotech J 11(2):223–229

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Milligan GWE, Fannin RJ, Farrar DM (1986) Model and full-scale tests of granular layers reinforced with a geogrid. In: Proc 3th Int Conf Geotext Vol 1. Vienna, pp: 61–66

  • Moghaddas Tafreshi SN, Khalaj O, Dawson AR (2014) Repeated loading of soil containing granulated rubber and multiple geocell layers. Geotext Geomembr 42(1):25–38

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moghaddas Tafreshi SN, Shaghaghi T, Tavakoli MehrJardi GH, Dawson AR, Ghadrdan M (2015) A simplified method for predicting the settlement of circular footings on multi-layered geocell-reinforced non-cohesive soils. Geotext Geomembr 43(4):332–344

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oliaei M, Kouzegaran S (2017) Efficiency of cellular geosynthetics for foundation reinforcement. Geotext Geomembr 45(2):11–22

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pfeifle TW, Das BM (1979) Bearing capacity of surface footings on sand layer resting on a rigid rough base. Soils Found 19(1):1–11

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pokharel SK, Han J, Leshchinsky D, Parsons RL, Halahmi I (2010) Investigation of factors influencing behavior of single geocell-reinforced bases under static loading. Geotext Geomembr 28(6):570–578

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Presto (2008) Geoweb load support system-technical overview. Presto Products Company, Appleton

    Google Scholar 

  • Rajagopal K, Krishnaswamy NR, Madhavi Latha G (1999) Behaviour of sand confined with single and multiple geocells. Geotext Geomembr 17(3):171–184

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shadmand A, Ghazavi M, Ganjian N (2018) Load-settlement characteristics of large-scale square footing on sand reinforce with opening geocell reinforcement. Geotext Geomembr 43(3):319–326

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tavakoli Mehrjardi G, Behrad R, Moghaddas Tafreshi SN (2019) Scale effect on the behavior of geocell-reinforced soil. Geotext Geomembr 47(2):154–163

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Terzaghi K (1943) Theoretical soil mechanics. Wiley, New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Tournier JP, Milović DM (1977) Étude expérimentale de la capacité portante d'une couche compressible d'épaisseur limitée. Géotechnique 27(2):111–123

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ueno K, Miura K, Maeda Y (1998) Prediction of ultimate bearing capacity of surface footings with regard to size effects. Soils Found 38(3):165–178

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhou H, Wen X (2008) Model studies on geogrid or geocell reinforced sand cushion on soft soil. Geotext Geomembr 26(3):231–238

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhu F, Clark JI, Phillips R (2001) Scale effect of strip and circular footings resting on a dense sand. J Geotech Geoenviron Eng ASCE 127(7):613–621

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, Shahrekord Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shahrekord, Iran

    Pezhman Fazeli Dehkordi

  2. Faculty of Technology, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands

    Usama Farhan Abdul Karim

Authors
  1. Pezhman Fazeli Dehkordi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Usama Farhan Abdul Karim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Pezhman Fazeli Dehkordi. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Pezhman Fazeli Dehkordi and all authors reviewed and commented on previous versions of the manuscript. Usam F.A. Karim worked on conceptualization, review editing and project administration. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Pezhman Fazeli Dehkordi.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Code availability

No code was developed or used in this research.

Additional information

Responsible Editor: Zeynal Abiddin Erguler

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Fazeli Dehkordi, P., Karim, U.F.A. Behaviour of circular footings confined by rigid base and geocell reinforcement. Arab J Geosci 13, 1100 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-020-06092-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-020-06092-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation