Effect of geotextile on bearing capacity of shallow footing

Abstract

The study was done to investigate the performance of reinforced soil foundation. The construction of reinforced soil foundation has a cost effective alternative to conventional methods. Performance characteristics were improved by using one or more layers of non-woven geotextile placed beneath the footing to create a composite material. The reinforcement in the soil interacts with the soil and is resisted by friction, adhesion or passive / bearing capacity. Experimental investigation has been carried out to study the behaviour of non-woven geotextile embedded in sand. In order to achieve this aim, many calibration tests and conventional tests such as specific gravity, grain size distribution, direct shear test, rain-fall method for deposition of sand, plate load test have been performed. The sand was deposited at a relative density of 62% and the plate load test have been conducted on the footings of different sizes and shapes (square, rectangle and strip) for u/B=0.5, h1/B=0.5 and h2/B=0.5, where B is the width of the footing, u is the first depth of geotextile from the base of the footing, h1 is the second depth of geotextile from base of the first layer of geotextile, h2 is the third depth of geotextile from base of the second layer of geotextile. Load carrying capacity and pressure-settlement characteristics of sand with and without geotextile have been studied in each test. From the overall study, it can be concluded that the BCR value for smaller size footings were found greater than the larger size footings. The ultimate bearing capacity values of nonwoven geotextile-reinforced sand are more than the unreinforced ones in all the cases.