Design of a structure of fine soil reinforced with geosynthetics - parametric study

Abstract

This paper presents a parametric study regarding the effect of everal parameters used in the design method of British Standard BS8006-1: 2009 for the design of reinforced soil structures. The design of a structure is performed using solutions which include one type of soil and five different geosynthetics. The parameters considered were: (1) the coefficient of friction and the adhesion coefficient between the soil and the geosynthetic; (2) the ultimate tensile strength of the geosynthetic; (3) the partial material factor for the reinforcement; and (4) the total horizontal width of the top and bottom faces of the reinforcing element at the layer (per meter). The external stability is verified with the same standard. Among other things, the results of this study allowed concluding the use of different properties of interaction between the soil and the reinforcement is important only for the internal mechanism of failure by pullout; the pullout mechanism is more important for the design of solutions where reinforcements that have a higher tensile strength were considered; and the total horizontal width of the top and bottom faces of the reinforcing element at the layer is important for the occurrence or not of the pullout.