Investigation on the long-term strain of geogrid in GRPS embankment under cyclic loading

Abstract

Geogrid is a horizontal reinforcement material that is used in geosynthetic-reinforced pile-supported (GRPS) embankments in freeways with soft soil. Nevertheless, the long-term deformation mechanics of geogrid in the GRPS embankment under cyclic loading is not clear enough. This paper presents a laboratory model study of a GRPS embankment to study the long-term geogrid strain under cyclic loading. The effects of parameters such as number of load cycles, load frequency, geogrid layer numbers, and length of supporting piles on the long-term strain of geogrid were investigated. The results showed that geogrid strain increased with the number of load cycles, mainly developed in the first 10 000 load cycles and increased slowly in the later period. When the frequency was increased from 1 to 5 Hz, geogrid strain increased dramatically. When compared with the condition of a single geogrid layer, the upper layer of two geogrid layers caused a less geogrid strain. Compared with long piles and short piles GRPS embankments, a sufficient membrane effect of geogrid was found for long-short piles GRPS embankments. Finally, the 95% prediction interval proposed in this paper could be expressed using a logarithmic function, providing a theoretical foundation for future engineering applications.