Pullout Behavior of Geocell-Reinforced Vertical Plate Anchors under Lateral Loading
This article has a reply.
VIEW THE REPLYThis article has a reply.
VIEW THE REPLYPublication: International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 19, Issue 8
Abstract
Vertical plate anchors are being widely used in the construction of earth retaining structures. In the present study, experimental and numerical investigations were carried out to develop an understanding of the behavior of geocell-reinforced vertical plate anchors in sand. The parameters studied include anchor embedment depth, strength of geocell reinforcement, and geocell–soil interface friction angle. It was observed that geocell reinforcement can significantly enhance the anchor capacity, both at shallow and deeper embedment. The unreinforced anchor, at an embedment depth of about seven times its height, tended to reach a critical stage beyond which the load-carrying capacity did not increase much. However, with geocell reinforcement, this limitation was overcome and the pullout capacity continued to increase further. Moreover, a shallow anchor with geocell reinforcement could perform better than the unreinforced anchor placed deeper. The central portion of the geocell mattress close to the anchor plate actively sustains the loading, and the end portions serve in a secondary manner to mobilize passive resistance from the surrounding soil. For better performance improvement, the geocell–soil stiffness ratio should be in the range of 5–30. With increases of the geocell–soil interface friction angle beyond 1.8 times the soil friction angle, further increases in performance improvement tend to be negligible.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The financial support for this work from IIT Kharagpur under a seed grant (IIT/SRIC/CE/RPA/2012-13/128) and Tensar England for supplying the geogrid free of cost is gratefully acknowledged. The FLAC3D analysis used in this study was carried out at the Indian Institute of Science Bangalore, India. The authors gratefully acknowledge the in-kind support.
References
Adams, M. T., and J. G. Collin. 1997. “Large model spread footing load tests on geosynthetic reinforced soil foundations.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng. 123 (1): 66–72. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)1090-0241(1997)123:1(66).
Akinmusuru, J. O. 1978. “Horizontally loaded vertical anchor plates in sand.” J. Geotech. Eng. Div. 104 (2): 283–286.
ASTM. 2006. Standard practice for classification of soils for engineering purposes (unified soil classification system). ASTM D2487. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM.
ASTM. 2007. Standard test method for measuring geosynthetic pullout resistance in soil. ASTM D6706. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM.
ASTM. 2009a. Standard test method for determining tensile properties of geogrids by the single or multi-rib tensile test method. ASTM D6637. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM.
ASTM. 2009b. Standard test method for strength of sewn or thermally bonded seams of geotextiles. ASTM D4884. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM.
ASTM. 2011. Standard test method for consolidated drained triaxial compression test for soils. ASTM D7181. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM.
ASTM. 2017. Standard test method for determining the shear strength of soil-geosynthetic and geosynthetic-geosynthetic interfaces by direct shear. ASTM D5321/D5321M. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM.
Bhattacharya, P., and J. Kumar. 2014. “Pullout capacity of inclined plate anchors embedded in sand.” Can. Geotech. J. 51 (11): 1365–1370. https://doi.org/10.1139/cgj-2014-0114.
Biswas, A., M. A. Krishna, and S. K. Dash. 2016. “Behavior of geosynthetic reinforced soil foundation systems supported on stiff clay subgrade.” Int. Journal of Geomechanics. 16 (5): 04016007. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)GM.1943-5622.0000559.
Choudhary, A. K., and S. K. Dash. 2017. “Load carrying mechanism of vertical plate anchors in sand.” Int. J. Geomech. 17 (5): 04016116. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)GM.1943-5622.0000813.
Choudhary, A. K., and S. K. Dash. 2018. “Pull-out behaviour of vertical plate anchor in granular soil.” Proc. Inst. Civ. Eng. Geotech. Eng. 171 (5): 379–390. https://doi.org/10.1680/jgeen.17.00174.
Dash, S. K., and A. K. Choudhary. 2018. “Geocell reinforcement for performance improvement of vertical plate anchors in sand.” Geotext. Geomembr. 46 (2): 214–225. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geotexmem.2017.11.008.
Dash, S. K., N. R. Krishnaswamy, and K. Rajagopal. 2001. “Bearing capacity of strip footings supported on geocell-reinforced sand.” Geotext. Geomembr. 19 (4): 235–256. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0266-1144(01)00006-1.
Dash, S. K., K. Rajagopal, and N. R. Krishnaswamy. 2007. “Behaviour of geocell reinforced sand beds under strip loading.” Can. Geotech. J. 44 (7): 905–916. https://doi.org/10.1139/t07-035.
Dickin, E. A., and C. F. Leung. 1983. “Centrifuge model tests on vertical anchor plates.” J. of Geotech. Eng. 109 (12): 1503–1525. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9410(1983)109:12(1503).
Ghosh, A., and A. K. Bera. 2010. “Effect of geotextile ties on uplift capacity of anchors embedded in sand.” Geotech. Geol. Eng. 28 (5): 567–577. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10706-010-9313-9.
Gibson, R. E. 1953. “Experimental determination of the true cohesion and true angle of internal friction in clays.” In Proc., 3rd Int. Conf. on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, 126–130. Zurich, Switzerland: International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering.
Hegde, A., and T. G. Sitharam. 2015. “3-Dimensional numerical modelling of geocell reinforced sand beds.” Geotext. Geomembr. 43 (2): 171–181. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geotexmem.2014.11.009.
Hua, Z. K., and C. K. Shen. 1987. “Lateral earth pressure on retaining structure with anchor plates.” J. Geotech. Eng. 113 (3): 189–201. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9410(1987)113:3(189).
Ilamparuthi, K., and E. A. Dickin. 2001. “The influence of soil reinforcement on the uplift behaviour of belled piles embedded in sand.” Geotext. Geomembr. 19 (1): 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0266-1144(00)00010-8.
Koerner, J., T.-Y. Soong, and R. M. Koerner. 1998. Earth retaining wall costs in the USA. GRI Rep. No. 20. Folsom, PA: Geosynthetic Research Institute, Drexel Univ.
Kouzer, K. M., and J. Kumar. 2009. “Vertical uplift capacity of equally spaced horizontal strip anchors in sand.” Int. J. Geomech. 9 (5): 230–236. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)1532-3641(2009)9:5(230).
LaGatta D. P., and D. R. Shields. 1984. “Failure of an anchored sheetpile bulkhead.” In Proc., 1st Int. Conf. on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering, 393–399. St. Louis, MO: Missouri Univ. of Science and Technology.
Liu, J., M. Liu, and Z. Zhu. 2012. “Sand deformation around an uplift plate anchor.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng. 138 (6): 728–737. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)GT.1943-5606.0000633.
Milligan, G. W. E., Fannin, R. J. and Farrar, D. M. 1986. “Model and full-scale tests of granular layers reinforced with a geogrid.” In Vol. 1 of Proc., 3rd Int. Conf. on Geotextiles, 61–66. Vienna, Austria: Austrian Association of Engineers and Architects.
Moghaddas Tafreshi, S. N., O. Khalaj, and A. R. Dawson. 2013. “Pilot-scale load tests of a combined multilayered geocell and rubber-reinforced foundation.” Geosynth. Int. 20 (3): 143–161. https://doi.org/10.1680/gein.13.00008.
Pinto, M. I. M., and T. W. Cousens. 1999. “Modelling a geotextile-reinforced, brick-faced Soil retaining wall.” Geosynth. Int. 6 (5): 417–447. https://doi.org/10.1680/gein.6.0159.
Rahimi, M., B. Leshchinsky, and S. N. Moghaddas Tafreshi. 2018a. “Assessing the ultimate uplift capacity of plate anchors in geocell reinforced sand.” Geosynth. Int. https://doi.org/10.1680/jgein.18.00029.
Rahimi, M., S. N. Moghaddas Tafreshi, B. Leshchinsky, and A. R. Dawson. 2018b. “Experimental and numerical investigation of the uplift capacity of plate anchors in geocell-reinforced sand.” Geotext. Geomembr. 46 (6): 801–816. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geotexmem.2018.07.010.
Rokonuzzaman, M., and T. Sakai. 2012. “Evaluation of shape effects for rectangular anchors in dense sand: Model tests and 3D finite-element analysis.” Int. J. Geomech. 12 (2): 176–181. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)GM.1943-5622.0000116.
Song, Z., Y. Hu, and M. F. Randolph. 2008. “Numerical simulation of vertical pullout of plate anchors in clay.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng. 134 (6): 866–887. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)1090-0241(2008)134:6(866).
Tsinker, G. P. 1983. “Anchored sheet pile bulkheads: Design practice.” J. Geotech. Eng. 109 (8): 1021–1038. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9410(1983)109:8(1021).
Webster, S. L., and J. E. Watkins. 1977. Investigation of construction techniques for tactical bridge approach roads across soft ground. Technical Rep. No. S-77-1. Vicksburg, MS: US Army Corps of Engineers, Waterways Experiment Station.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 19 • Issue 8 • August 2019
Copyright
© 2019 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jul 17, 2018
Accepted: Jan 15, 2019
Published online: May 16, 2019
Published in print: Aug 1, 2019
Discussion open until: Oct 16, 2019
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.