Exploring 3D-Printed Geocells in Model Tests
摘要
Geocells are three-dimensional (3D) polymeric reinforcements extensively used to reinforce foundations. Though plenty of plate load studies are available on geocell-reinforced foundations, most of them used prototype geocells in their tests due to the unavailability of low strength geocells in the market. The results obtained from these studies cannot be directly extrapolated to the field conditions due to the scaling issues. Some researchers have compensated these issues by using geocells fabricated from low strength nonwoven geotextiles or geocells in their studies. However, these materials could not offer reinforcing mechanisms similar to that of prototype geocells. Hence, the present study uses the ability of 3D printing technology for the fabrication of low strength geocells with customized configuration and texture, to carry out plate load tests. 3D-printed geocells were fabricated from the ultrasonic welding of 3D-printed Polypropylene (PP) sheets. Tests were conducted on geocell-reinforced foundations with three different cell sizes of 150, 100, and 75 mm at a constant cell height of 90 mm, thus changing the cell aspect ratio from 0.6 to 1.2. Tests on unreinforced beds were also conducted to compare the results. The inclusion of geocells improved the performance of unreinforced beds, and the optimum aspect ratio of geocells for maximum performance was found to be unity.