Effect of Geotextile-Reinforced Sand on Pore Water Pressure Using Shake Table

Abstract

Pore water pressure is a key parameter that governs the strength of soil. The effect of geosynthetic reinforcement to investigate the dissipation of pore water pressure generated due to dynamic load was studied. In the present study, shake table was used for assessing the effect of geotextiles on pore water pressure in case of sand. The tests were conducted on sand with and without reinforcement at relative densities of 30 and 60%. The frequency of base shaking was 5 Hz and was subjected to sinusoidal excitation of 0.5 g. Tests were carried out on woven and nonwoven geotextiles. The effect of variation in the number of geotextile layers on pore water pressure was observed. It was observed that excess pore pressure reduced due to inclusion of more number of reinforcement layers. The time to build up maximum excess pore pressure increased with the number of woven and nonwoven geotextile layers. The excess pore water pressure generated was observed more in case of 30% relative density than 60% dense soil. The change in pore water pressure was more significant in case of nonwoven geotextile than woven geotextile. The percentage increase in reduction of excess pore water pressure in case of nonwoven geotextile for four layers was around 54% and 32% at a relative density of 60 and 30%.