Geocell soil reinforcement

Geocell is a geosynthetic material born in the 1970s, which is made of HDPE sheets welded by ultrasonic waves. The geocell is a three-dimensional structure when unfolded, and the filling material can be soil, gravel, concrete, etc. Compared with the two-dimensional structure of geogrid, the reinforcing effect of geocell is more significant, and nowadays it is more and more popular in the market.

Soil reinforcement (soil stablization)

It refers to the laying of geosynthetic materials in the bedding layer of artificial fill, soil slope, embankment or retaining wall; or the driving of tree root piles, gravel piles, soil nails and soil anchors into the foundation and slope. Through the friction between the tendon material and the soil body to improve the soil tensile, shear performance, improve the bearing capacity of the foundation, reduce settlement of a foundation treatment method.

Soil reinforcement Classification

In terms of the nature of the material, metallic materials and synthetic materials.
By form, there are bars, strips, meshes, grids, etc.
From the deformation allowed by the materials, there are rigid materials and flexible materials, rigid materials such as metals and some synthetic materials with large elastic modulus, flexible materials such as geotextiles, geogrids, etc.

Geocell reinforcement mechanism

As shown in the figure on the left, if soft ground is not reinforced with reinforcing materials, the bearing capacity of the foundation is very low. However, after the geocell is laid as a bedding layer, when a load is applied to the geocell filled with filler, the geocell, as a three-dimensional structural system, interacts with the internal filler to provide a large lateral binding force and friction, which enhances the integrity of the soil, thus achieving a good reinforcement effect. The reinforcing principle of geocell can also be called “lateral resistance effect” and “frictional resistance effect”. Since each compartment is independent of each other, these lateral forces of adjacent compartments are basically equal in size and opposite in direction, thus reducing the actual load of the foundation. At this time, the geocell and the land form a stiffness reinforced composite structural layer, which plays a role similar to that of a raft foundation, restraining the horizontal displacement of the foundation and reducing the substrate pressure. The use of geocell can make the soil pressure more evenly distributed, forming a “pulling film effect”, and thus the bearing capacity of the foundation can be improved, see the figure on the right.