RESEARCH PROPOSAL

Load-Settlement Behaviour of Geosynthetic-Reinforced Foundation Soils

Sateesh Kumar Pisini

Principal Lecturer & Program Leader
Department of Civil Engineering
School of Building and Civil Engineering
College of Engineering, Science and Technology
Derrick Campus, Fiji National University, Suva, Fiji.

1. Introduction 
During the past few decades the use of geosynthetic reinforcement within the foundation soils
is one of the cost-effective practices to avoid the construction of deep foundations in weak
soils. Geosynthetics are used as a routine ground improvement solution in various
applications including road and pavements, railway embankments, retaining walls, bridge
abutments, and shallow foundations. Current literature reveals that extensive experimental
studies have been conducted on the behaviour of geosynthetic-reinforced shallow foundations
in cohesive soils as well as in cohesionless soils. Also, a wide range of experimental and
numerical studies are available in the literature on the behaviour of reinforced soil
foundations (RSF) using the geosynthetics (Shukla, 2016). Generally, in field conditions, the
cohesionless soil bed such as a sand bed in the dense state is generally a suitable foundation
to support structural loads. However, there are some practical limitations to achieving a
higher density at the construction site, and even if the sand bed can be densified to a possible
maximum density, the load bearing capacity may remain lower in terms of supporting a
heavy structure. In order to increase the load-bearing capacity of a sand bed, one common
practice is to reinforce it with geosynthetic layers. Most of the studies using geosynthetic
reinforcement in foundation soils have been conducted for the surface footing condition.
Very limited research work has been conducted with embedded foundations. In the recent
past, based on laboratory model studies, some researchers have reported that the edges of the
horizontal geosynthetic reinforcement can be wrapped around to increase the load-bearing
capacity (Kazi et al, 2015a, b, c, 2016; Aria et al., 2019). There is currently no research study
available on the behavior of geosynthetic-reinforced layered soil foundation using the
wraparound reinforcement technique. Therefore, this study aims to investigate this aspect of
reinforced, considering both surface and embedded strip footings at different conditions of
denseness.

2. Research Problem and Objectives

This research will be carried out to analyse the behaviour of layered foundation soil
supporting surface and embedded strip footings with wraparound geosynthetic reinforcement
layers in dry and saturated conditions, as this field problem has not been given due attention.
Key objectives of this research study are follows:

 Effect of wraparound length of geosynthetic reinforcement

 Effect water level in foundation soil
 Effect of layered soil with respect of surface and embedded footings
 Effect of number of reinforcement layers
 Effect of different degree of compactness of soil layers
 Measurement of strain in geosynthetic reinforcement
 Pressure distribution within the reinforced soil bed
 Utilization of waste material in foundation soil
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3. Methodology
A series of model tests on both surface and embedded footings resting on the reinforced
sand bed will be carried out using the model test facility that will be developed at the
Geotechnical laboratory, Department of Civil Engineering, FNU. Experimental setup,
testing apparatus dimensions and experimentation procedure will be developed on the basis
of objectives and expected outcomes of this study. Further, the results of the experimental
investigation will be compiled to validate the numerical model to be developed by using the
commercial finte difference based software FLAC 3D. Number of experimental trials will
consider several conditions of denseness of the soil, footing position, reinforcement layers
and water level in the case of saturated sand bed.

4. Expected outcomes
The following specific outcomes may be expected from this research:

 Explaining the mechanism of wraparound reinforcement technique

 Development of a sustainable ground improvement technique
 Making a numerical model available for use by practising engineers
 Preparation of field application guidelines for construction foundations
 Development of design charts for the design of foundations
 Publication of at least 4 papers in international journals

5. Timeline 
This research will be carried out regularly during the period of candidature. Key specific
details are given below:

Year Task
Year 1  Completion of requirements for candidature confirmation
 Literature review
 Defining the research problem
 Working on the 1st research paper and submission to the research
journal
Year 2  Development of the foundation model test set up, and its fabrication
 Conducting tests using the developed set up for surface footing
 Working on 2nd research paper and submission to the research
journal
 Writing a paper for presentation and publication in conference
proceedings
Year 3  Conducting tests using the developed set up for embedded footing
 Numerical modelling using FLAC 3D
 Working on the 3rd research paper and submission to the research
journal
Year 4  Numerical modelling using FLAC 3D (continued)
 Conducting the experiments with fluctuation of water table
 Working on the 4th research paper and submission to the research
journal
Year 5  Analytical framework
 Tests with use of waste materials
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 Working on the 5th research paper and submission to the research

journal
 Writing a paper for presentation and publication in conference
proceedings
Year 6  Working on the 6th research paper and submission to the research
journal
 Writing a paper for presentation and publication in conference
proceedings
 Thesis compilation and submission

References
Aria S, Shukla SK, Mohyeddin A (2019). Tensile behaviour of geotextile reinforcement
within the sandy soil supporting a strip footing. Géotechnique Letters,9(1):59-65.

Kazi M, Shukla S, Habibi D (2015a). Effect of submergence on settlement and bearing

capacity of surface strip footing on geotextile-reinforced sand bed. Int J of Geosynth and
Ground Engineering;1(1):1-11.

Kazi M, Shukla SK, Habibi D (2015b). An improved method to increase the load-bearing
capacity of strip footing resting on geotextile-reinforced sand bed. Indian Geotechnical
Journal, 45(1):98-109.

Kazi M, Shukla SK, Habibi D (2015c). Behavior of embedded strip footing on sand bed
reinforced with multilayer geotextile with wraparound ends. International Journal of
Geotechnical Engineering, 9(5):437-452.

Kazi M, Shukla SK, Habibi D (2016). Behaviour of an embedded footing on geotextile-

reinforced sand. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Ground Improvement,
169(2):120-133.

Shukla (2016). An Introduction to Geosynthetic Engineering. Taylor and Francis, London.