Performance of Granular Materials Stabilized with Triaxial Geogrid Reinforcement

Triaxial geogrid (TAG) reinforcements are highly desirable modern techniques that improve the bearing pressure of granular materials. Improvement of the bearing pressure of a granular material (homogenous and layered systems), stabilized with polypropylene TAG reinforcement, is examined by using plate load tests and a unique numerical constitutive Tensar stabilized soil model (TSSM). The study is focused to evaluate: (a) the mechanical performance of unstabilized granular soil (homogenous) and aggregates overlying granular soil (layered system); (b) the effect of embedded depths (u_t) of TAG-reinforced stabilized granular materials; and (c) to estimate the improvement factors (I_F) at a settlement equal to 2% of plate diameter (i.e., S/b = 0.02) for various embedded depth to plate diameter ratios (u_t/b). Experimentation and finite element analysis (using TSSM) demonstrate that the TAG reinforcement improves the structural ability of granular materials and thus support traffic loads. The significant research findings are strengthening of granular materials for the ideal embedded depth. The good agreement between realistic testing approaches and numerical predictions emphasizes the significant strengthening of granular materials using TAG reinforcement in these circumstances.