Behavior of Geocell-Reinforced Granular Bases under Static and Repeated Loads

Geosynthetics have been used for base reinforcement since 1970s. Numerous research has already been carried out for planar geosynthetic reinforcement but limited research has been conducted for three-dimensional geocell reinforcement. Literature review has also demonstrated a significant gap between the applications and theories of geocell reinforcement outlining the need for more research. This study was to investigate the behavior of reinforced bases using a single geocell under static and repeated loads on a loading plate. The experimental results show that the single geocell could increase the stiffness by approximately 50% and the maximum load by 100% as compared with those of the unreinforced base. The repeated test shows that the geocell-reinforced base had the percentage of elastic deformation increase with the number of cycles of the repeated load up to 95%.