• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.20 no.9
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• pp.65-75
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• 2004

In this paper, a mechanism of the soil structure reinforced by geosynthetics is discussed. The reinforcing mechanism is interpreted as an effect arising from the reinforcement works preventing the dilative deformation (negative dilatancy) of soil under shearing. A full-scale in-situ model test was carried out in Kanazawa of Japan (1994), and in the laboratory test the strength and the characteristics of deformation conducting a constant volume shear test are examined. The parameters needed in the FEM are also applied by using the experimental data. The elasto-plastic finite element simulation is carried out, and the results are quantitatively compared with that of experiment. As a results, it is known that the theoretical predictions could explain effectively the experimental results which are obtained by a full-scale in-situ model test.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.21 no.7
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• pp.21-29
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• 2005

This paper presents the results of a numerical investigation on the behavior of a geosynthetic reinforced two-tier segmental retaining wall (GR-SRW) on a yielding foundation. A hypothetical 10 m high two tier GR-SRW to be constructed on an incompetent foundation containing a layer of relative soft soil deposit was considered. A verified finite-element procedure was employed to get insights into the effect of foundation yielding on the wall behavior including the wall deformation and the reinforcement load. It is shown that the effect of foundation yielding is to increase the wall deformation as well as the reinforcement load, thus influencing both the internal as well as the external stability of the wall. Practical implications of the findings obtained from this study are highlighted in this paper.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.3-12
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• 2004

In this paper, a mechanism of the soil structure reinforced by geosynthetics is discussed. The reinforcing mechanism is interpreted an effect arising from the reinforcement works so as to prevent the dilative deformation (negative dilatancy) of soil under shearing. A full-scale in-situ model test was carried out in Kanazawa of Japan(1994) and in the laboratory test the strength and the characteristics of deformation conducting a constant volume shear test are examined. The parameters needed in the FEM are also applied by using the experimental data. The elasto-plastic finite element simulation is carried out, and the results are quantitatively compared with that of experiment. As a results, it is known that the theoretical predictions could be explained effectively the experimental results which are obtained by a full-scale in-situ model test.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.45-54
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• 2012

Various geosynthetics are widely applied to civil structures and waste landfill site for reinforcement and water resistance. The use of geosynthetics inevitably involves the coupled behaviors of different materials which include large displacement and strain-softening behaviors, etc. In this study, the effect of chemical element in the leachate on the interface shear strength under the cyclic loading condition was analyzed. The Multi-purpose Interface Apparatus (M-PIA) has been modified and cyclic direct shear tests have been performed. The submerging period of each specimen is 200 days. Additionally, the Field-Emission Scanning Electronic Microscopy (FIB) analysis has been also performed to induce the reason of the variation of disturbance function and verify the hypothesis on the decay-proof ability of geosynthetics. Consequently, the charateristics of chemical degradation of geosynthetic-soil interface are verified and the variation of the disturbance function is mainly caused by the different type of soil mineral decay, based on the FIB results.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.65-77
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• 2005

This paper investigates the failure mechanism of geosynthetic-reinforced segmental retaining walls with tiered configuration using reduced-scale model tests. The reduced scale model test set-up was established to simulate a 5 m high full-scale wall. The geometry and material properties used in the model test were determined based on the Similitude Laws. The wall failures in the model tests were successfully generated by their self weight without any surface loading and analyzed examining the digital video recordings. The failure mechanisms was examined with respect to the various offsets between the lower and upper teres and the reinforcement length. Based on the results the appropriateness of the current design guideline was discussed.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.13-21
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• 2005

This paper presents the results of an investigation on the effects of settlement of foundation on the behavior of geosynthetic-reinforced modular block walls in a tiered arrangement using the finite-element method of numerical analysis. A parametric study was performed by varing the foundation condition and offset distance between the tiers and reinforcement length of the lower and upper tier using varified finite-element model. The finite-element analysis provided relevant information on the mechanical behavior of the wall and interaction mechanism between the upper and lowers that was otherwise difficult to obtain from the limit-equilibrium analysis based current design approaches. Practical implications of the findings obtained from this study to current design approaches are discussed in great detail.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.279-289
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• 2003

Geosynthetic reinforced earth wall was introduced about 20 years ago and many structures have been constructed. Especially, segmental concrete panel facing and friction tie system are the most popular system in Korea, and this friction tie was composed of high tenacity PET filament and LDPE(Low Density Polyethylene) sheath. Due to the lack of direct-test results, design coefficients of friction tie (creep reduction factor) had been determined by quoting the previous and the foreign reference data. This is an unreasonable fact for the use of friction ties. In this study, the creep tests were performed to evaluate the creep behavior of friction tie, and the reduction factor of creep was calculated for the correct design of geosynthetic reinforced earth retaining walls. From the test results, finally it was found that the allowable creep strength of friction tie is 60% of Tult during service life, and creep reduction factor is 1.67 for each grade of friction ties.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.361-373
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• 2023

This study aimed to investigate the engineering properties and mechanical behaviors of polymer-fibers treated sand. Para rubber (PR), natural fiber (NF), and geosynthetic fiber (GF) were used to reinforce poorly graded sand. A series of unconfined compressive and splitting tensile strength tests were performed to analyze the engineering behaviors and strength enhancement mechanism. The experiment results indicated that the PR-fibers mixture could firmly enhance the strength properties of sand. The stress-strain characteristics and failure patterns have been changed due to the increase of PR and fibers content. The presence of PR and fibers strengthened the sand and enhanced the stiffness and ductility behavior of the mixture. The stiffness of reinforced sand reaches an optimum state when both NF and GF are 0.5%, while the optimum PR contents are 20% and 22.5% for the mixture with NF and GF, respectively. An addition of PR and fiber into sand contributed to increasing interlocking zone and bonding of PR-sand interfacial.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.641-651
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• 2017

Ground improvement with use of geosynthetic products is globally accepted now. The present paper discusses the improvement in bearing capacity of square footing placed at surface of cohesionless soil reinforced with geocell. Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion has been used in the observations. To study effects of geocell with respect to planar geogrid, model tests were conducted on planar reinforcement also. A comparative study of unreinforced soil and soil reinforced with plane geogrid and geocell has also been made. Numerical analysis results obtained by PLaxis have been compared with those obtained from model tests and were found to be in good agreement. A parametric study revealed the role of length of reinforcement, spacing between layers, placement of reinforcement from top surface etc. on bearing capacity. A design example given in paper illustrates the savings in cost of construction of footing on reinforced sand. The study shows that there is improvement in bearing capacity with respect to unreinforced soil which is of the order of 86%. Similarly settlement reduction is 13.07% for single layer of geocell which for double layers of geocell is 693% and 86.48% respectively. The cost reduction in case of reinforced soil is 35% as compared to unreinforced soil.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.25-37
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• 2019

This study confirms reinforcing effect of geosynthetics in the use of soil at higher water contents as a compaction material on compaction tests, field compaction tests, and numerical analysis. To verify a confined effect, a large mold(area ratio of rammer / mold = 0.19) larger than D compaction mold(area ratio of rammer / mold = 0.33) was performed for compaction. It showed that in the D compaction test, dry density were 0.5~0.6% increases and in the compaction test using the large mold, it were 2.4~3.7% increases at high water contents. It shows that when the area of compacted area is large enough, a confined effect could be arising from the reinforcement of geosynthetics even at high water contents. As a result of analyzing of compaction effects according to 'depth(z/B) from compacted surface' in the field, when not reinforced, the compaction state deteriorated due to the over-compaction and the compaction did not work well. However, when reinforcement of geosynthetics, restraint effect by geosynthetics occurs, it is confirmed that the compaction energy is effectively transferred to the compaction layer and the dry density is increased. Also, through the conceptual model of the behavior of geosynthetic and soil layer, the mechanism in the ground due to reinforcement of geosynthetics is presented and it is verified through finite element analysis.