Numerical Study of Recycled-Plastic-Pin- and Geosynthetic-Platform-Supported Embankment over Soft Soil

Abstract

Embankment construction over soft soils is extremely challenging because of excessive settlement of the soil and the potential for bearing failure. Many of the available conventional methods for solving these problems require a tremendous amount of time and resources. Researchers are therefore striving to create a sustainable alternative to conventional practices. Utilizing recycled plastic pins (RPP) in conjunction with geosynthetics is a novel approach to improve soft foundation soil. This study uses finite element analysis to evaluate the effectiveness of RPP and geosynthetic platform for improving soft foundation soil. PLAXIS 2D software was used for the numerical analysis. Field measurements were used to calibrate the model for settlement and pressure variations. The performance of the RPP-supported embankment was evaluated with maximum consolidation settlement, differential settlement, and soil arching effect. Furthermore, a comprehensive parametric study was carried out to investigate the influence of RPP size and spacing, load transfer platform, stiffness of geosynthetics, and shear strength of embankment fill. It was observed that the load efficacy increases, and the differential settlement efficacy decreases with the increase of embankment load. The settlement improvement factor is found negligible for the values of area ratio inverse higher than 30. The cohesion rather than the friction angle of embankment fill was found more influential in transferring the embankment load to RPPs. Furthermore, the maximum settlement decreases, and maximum tension in geosynthetics increases with the increase of geosynthetic stiffness.