Time-dependent pullout behavior of glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) soil nail in sand

Abstract

Glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) materials are gaining increasing use in geotechnical engineering applications in recent years. The long-term performance of reinforced geostructures may be influenced by the rheological properties of GFRP soil nails or anchors. However, a clear understanding of this effect is lacking. This work aims to investigate the interaction between GFRP soil nail and sand under pullout conditions considering the time-dependent effect. A time-dependent model was proposed to describe the load–deformation characteristics of a GFRP soil nail during pullout. Laboratory pullout tests were performed using a load-controlled pullout apparatus to verify the effectiveness of the proposed model. Quasi-distributed fiber Bragg grating (FBG) optical fiber sensors were adhered on the pre-grooved GFRP soil nail to capture the variations of axial strain during testing. The test results are presented, interpreted, and discussed. It is shown that there is good agreement between the simulation results and the experimental data under low stress levels. Additionally, the impacts of model parameters on the predicted time-dependent pullout behavior of a GFRP soil nail were examined through parametric studies. The results indicate that the distributions of tensile force and GFRP–sand interfacial shear stress along the nail length are highly time dependent. The creep displacement of a GFRP soil nail is significantly influenced by the rheological parameters of the proposed model.