Interaction Between Hoop Stresses and Passive Earth Resistance in Single and Multiple Geocell Structures
Radial load tests demonstrated that Neoloy® Tough-Cell stiffness is crucial to confinement
Summary
NPA Tough-Cells with different stiffness and different numbers of interconnected geocells underwent radial load testing, in order to evaluate the interaction between hoop stresses and passive earth resistance.
- Evaluation of geocell reinforcement mechanisms demonstrates that the stiffness of the geocell material is the most important confinement parameter.
- The study validates the results of earlier vertical load testing.
Geocell structures consist of a series of interconnected single cells, made from different polymer materials. The cell walls completely encase the infill material and provide an all-around confinement to the soil. The confinement effect is based on three main mechanisms: active earth pressure within loaded cell, passive earth resistance in the adjacent cells and hoop stresses in the cell walls.
To evaluate the interaction between hoop stresses and passive earth resistance radial load tests on single and multiple geocell structures were carried out. Geocell materials with different stiffness and different numbers of interconnected geocells were tested. The tests results have shown that the stiffness of the geocell material and the numbers of adjacent cells are the most important parameters for the confinement effect.
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