Influence of Number of Geosynthetic Layers on the Performance of Geosynthetic-reinforced Pile-supported Earth Platforms on Soft Soil: Numerical Study

Abstract

Geosynthetic-reinforced pile-supported earth platforms have been increasingly used to support infrastructures, such as embankments, retaining walls, and storage tanks constructed over soft soils around the world. On the top of piles, one or more layers of geosynthetics are usually placed. However, the effect of number of geosynthetic layers on the behavior of geosynthetic-reinforced pile-supported earth platforms has not been well explored so far. Based on a well-instrumented large-scale test, a threedimensional (3-D) numerical study was conducted to investigate the behavior of geosynthetic-reinforced pile-supported earth platforms with different number of geosynthetic layers. The numerical results showed that the inclusion of geosynthetics enhanced the efficiency of load transfer. The critical heights of soil arching were almost constant with different numbers of reinforcement layers. The maximum tensile strain in the lower reinforcement was on the edge of pile caps while the maximum tensile strain in the upper reinforcement was close to the pile center. When the square caps were installed in a triangular pattern, the maximum strain in reinforcement is concentrated in the strip bridging two adjacent cap corners.