Bearing Capacity of Circular Footing on Geonatural and Geosynthetic Reinforced Sand

Abstract

AbstractThis paper brings out the effect of tensile strength of reinforcement on the bearing capacity of circular footing in sand. In order to achieve this objective, a series of laboratory model tests were performed using natural jute and synthetic polypropylene geotextiles in a rigid steel tank of 900 mm × 900 mm × 800 mm size. A circular footing of 150 mm diameter (D) was used for the model tests. The geotextile reinforcement sheets were placed as planar layers with the placement depth of first reinforcement layer (u) as 0.31D and spacing between the planar layers (h) as 0.3D. The number of layers used within the reinforced zone (N) was 4, and the size of the reinforcement sheet (Br) was 5D in the model tests. The placement of geotextile and quantity of geotextile used was same for all the tests. The experimental studies indicate that the stiffness of the reinforcement plays a significant role in load-carrying capacity improvement rather than the reinforcement material tensile strength.KeywordsLaboratory model testsCircular footingGeotextile reinforcementReinforced sandBearing capacity