Development of rational seismic design method for geogrid-reinforced soil wall combined with fibre-mixed soil-cement and its applications

Abstract

The combined use of a geogrid-reinforced soil wall with a fibre-mixed soil-cement wall (GRSW-FSC) has recently been developed, and its application has grown rapidly. The results of previous centrifuge shaking-table tests have clearly shown the effectiveness of the GRSW-FSC to achieve a higher seismic stability than conventional reinforced soil walls. The current research investigates the effect of geogrid arrangement and the width of the soil-cement wall in order to develop a new rational design method for GRSW-FSCs in field applications. To achieve this goal, a series of centrifuge shaking-table tests was conducted. The results show that even if the width of the fibre-mixed soil-cement wall is reduced by 20%, the GRSW-FSC has enough seismic stability to resist severe seismic motions. Moreover, the effect of the length of the geogrid located at the upper part of the wall plays a more important role in seismic stability than that at the lower part. Based on these two results, a new design concept was developed. The procedure for this new design method is addressed in detail in this paper, and some examples of case studies using this new design concept are given.

Behavior of cement-stabilized clay reinforced with nylon fiber

“…Gaspard et al (2003) concluded from the results of unconfined compression tests (UCT) on sandy soil-cement samples with inclusion of 0.1% and 0.2% fibers that the addition of fibers does not increase the strength significantly. Researchers such as Park (2009), Izawa et al (2009) and Consoli et al (2010 also studied the behavior of cemented sandy soil with and without fiber reinforcement, and concluded that inclusion of fibers causes an increase in the strength of samples. Studies on the behavior of reinforced cemented clay soil are limited to the work that has been carried out by Khattak and Alrashidi (2006) and Tang et al (2007).…”

Earthquake Geotechnical Engineering Design

“…These methods were developed to achieve a higher performance, low costs, and ecological advantages. Miyata et al (2003), Lai et al (2006), Rowe and Taechakumthorn (2008), and Izawa et al (2009) reported excellent case histories on the combination technology. For the applied technology to restore the damaged geo-structure due to an earthquake, it is required that (1) the construction is easy and speedy, (2) it has a high seismic performance, and (3) the cost-benefit ratio is relatively high.…”

Reinforced Soil Walls During Recent Great Earthquakes in Japan and Geo-Risk-Based Design

“…These methods were developed to achieve a higher performance, low costs, and ecological advantages. Miyata et al (2003), Lai et al (2006), Rowe and Taechakumthorn (2008), and Izawa et al (2009) reported excellent case histories on the combination technology. (Ochiai 2007) 12 Reinforced Soil Walls During Recent Great Earthquakes in Japan.…”