Flexural Behavior of Compacted-Cement Sand Reinforced with Geogrid

Abstract

An improvement of flexural strength of cement stabilized soils using geogrid designated as compacted cement-geogrid-sand (CCGS) is investigated in this research. The studied material performance of the CCGS includes postpeak behavior, toughness, and equivalent flexural strength ratio. The geogrid inclusion significantly improves the postpeak flexural behavior, which is a requirement for bound pavement materials. The first peak flexural strength f1 and stiffness of both compacted-cement-sand (CCS) and CCGS are essentially the same for the same cement content. The tested soils were obtained from Ayutthaya province, Thailand, and is commonly used as a construction material for backfill and pavement applications. The backfill soils were used sand. In this study, Type I Portland cement was used as a cementing agent and geogrid two type were used as a reinforcement material. Properties of the cement and the geogrid, which were obtained from the manufacturers. The specimens were subjected to a flexural performance test according to ASTM C1609/C1609M-10 (2010). The results showed that in the flexural performance of the CCGS includeing postpeak behavior, toughness, and equivalent flexural strength ratio depends on the type and shape of apertures of the geogrid. It was found that the triaxial geogrid with shape of triangular apertures was more effective in reinforcing and provided the high equivalent flexural strength over uniaxial geogrid.

Discrete Element Study on Bending Resistance of Geogrid Reinforced Cement-Treated Sand

“…Based on a series of laboratory tests, researchers have found that geogrid reinforcement can effectively delay the propagation and development of micro-cracks [ 2 , 4 ], significantly improving the flexural capacity of the components. The position and type of external loads applied, as well as the location and number of layers determined by the geogrid reinforcement design [ 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ], will significantly impact the overall performance of cement-treated sand reinforced with geogrids (CTSGs). Some researchers have pointed out that matrix and reinforcement properties (including cement type, sand and gravel particle size distribution, geogrid type, etc.)…”

“…Numerous laboratory tests have demonstrated the feasibility and advantages of geogrid-reinforced cement mortar [ 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ], but laboratory tests still have their limitations. With the development of discrete element numerical simulations, researchers have used numerical experiments to compensate for the shortcomings of laboratory tests, such as the difficulty in controlling variables and inability to conduct microscopic studies.…”