Modeling and Behavior of Geosynthetics-Reinforced Foundation

Use of geosynthetic-reinforced granular beds is getting very popular over the last two to three decades. The cost of geosynthetics has gone done many fold as it is produced in large scales. This has necessitated development of analytical tools for design of reinforced granular beds resting on soft soils which have low bearing capacity and cause large settlements. Some of the basic modeling elements used for modeling soil behavior are being used to develop more complex models for representing reinforced granular bed behavior. This paper reviews the development that has taken place in this area during last three decades. The focus is more on the mechanical models developed for representing the behavior of geosynthetic-reinforced foundation beds. There are models developed for single and multiple layers of reinforcement. These models take into consideration factors such as compressibility of granular material, extensible and inextensible reinforcements, interfacial friction between the geosynthetic reinforcement and the soil, pretension in the reinforcement, time-dependent behavior of the soft soil, shear modulus of the granular bed, the creep behavior of reinforcement, flexural rigidity of the reinforcement, and nonlinear behavior of granular material and soft clay. Most of these models are not yet validated in the field conditions. The major reason for lack of this is that the models are having far too many parameters, and the values of these parameters for any site are not available. Parametric studies carried out using these models have improved the understanding of the behavior of reinforced foundations considerably.