Study of hydraulic and mechanical responses of soil-geosynthetics interfaces subject to infiltration

• Grant number: 15/05807-5
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: February 01, 2016
• End date: January 31, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Civil Engineering - Geotechnical Engineering
• Principal Investigator: Fernando Henrique Martins Portelinha
• Grantee: Fernando Henrique Martins Portelinha
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Exatas e de Tecnologia (CCET). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Marcos Massao Futai

Abstract

Geosynthetic-reinforced soil structures have been an advantageous technique for providing efficiency and cost saving in retaining walls, mainly when local soil is available to be used as fill material. However, standards and recommendations suggest the use of granular material although local soils are frequently used in Brazil, even when these are fine-grained soils. The use of fine-grained has reported to lead to the development of positive pore water pressures under wetting, which affect the shear strength and stiffness of soil, resulting in service problems or failure of geosynthetic reinforced soil walls. In designs, the choice of reinforcements is based on earth lateral pressures and its transmitted axial forces under critical saturation conditions of soil, calculated without consideration of infiltration effect of different reinforcements and soils, as well their interaction. The implications are very conservative or audacious design solutions. This research consists in the evaluation of the infiltration and the hydraulic behavior of different geosynthetics and soils on reinforcement mechanisms in reinforced soil walls, i.e., mobilized forces and interface shear stresses. The study intends to observe the behavior of a very low permeability geosynthetic (geogrids and woven geotextiles) embedded in fine-grained soils related to pore water pressures developments in the interface, as well as the effect of capillary barrier and lateral drainage of draining geosynthetics (nonwoven geotextiles and geocomposites). For this, an test apparatus will be developed to simulated a reinforced layer, which was motivated by the large quantity of variables that is considered relevant to be evaluated. This research work will suggest practicable combinations of soils and reinforcements to be used as reinforced layers in reinforced soil walls, as well as design insights of these structures subjected to precipitation. (AU)

Scientific publications

(4)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

PORTELINHA, F. H. M.; ZORNBERG, J. G.. Effect of infiltration on the performance of an unsaturated geotextile-reinforced soil wall. GEOTEXTILES AND GEOMEMBRANES, v. 45, n. 3, p. 211-226, JUN 2017. (15/05807-5)

ALBINO, U. R.; PORTELINHA, F. H. M.; FUTAI, M. M.. Numerical simulation of a geotextile soil wall considering soil-atmosphere interaction. GEOSYNTHETICS INTERNATIONAL, v. 27, n. 4, p. 394-413, AUG 2020. (15/05807-5)

PORTELINHA, F. H. M.; SANTOS, M. C.; FUTAI, M. M.. A laboratory evaluation of reinforcement loads induced by rainfall infiltration in geosynthetic mechanically stabilized earth walls. GEOTEXTILES AND GEOMEMBRANES, v. 49, n. 5, p. 1427-1439, OCT 2021. (15/05807-5)

ALBINO, U. R.; PORTELINHA, F. H. M.; ZORNBERG, J. G.; FUTAI, M. M.. Numerical simulation of infiltration into the fill of a wall reinforced with nonwoven geotextiles. COMPUTERS AND GEOTECHNICS, v. 108, p. 27-39, APR 2019. (15/05807-5)