Effect of Influencing Parameters on the Vibration Isolation Efficacy of Geocell Reinforced Soil Beds

Abstract

This manuscript evaluates the effect of various influencing factors on the vibration mitigation efficiency of geocell-reinforced foundation beds. Parameters investigated include the width of geocell, depth of placement of geocell below the footing, depth of embedment of footing, infill materials, and the dynamic force level of the excitation. The effect of aforesaid parameters was studied by performing field vibration tests over the reinforced test beds of 3.6 m × 3.6 m × 1.2 m. To understand the vibration isolation efficacy, different vibration indicators, viz., displacement amplitude, peak particle velocity (PPV), and peak acceleration were evaluated. From the results, reinforcing the soil bed with geocell was found to be a worthwhile approach to control the vibration parameters. For achieving the maximum isolation, the optimum width and depth of placement of geocell were found to be 5B and 0.1B respectively. At its optimum width and depth of placement, the peak particle velocity was reduced by 50%. Similarly, it was observed that the 53% drop in the peak displacement amplitude of the foundation bed. Vibration parameters in the geocell reinforced case were found attenuated with the increase in footing embedment and modulus of infill material. On the other hand, the vibration parameters of the unreinforced and geocell reinforced cases were amplified distinctly due to the increase in dynamic excitation.