ENHANCEMENT OF BEARING CAPACITY OF SOFT SOIL USING GEOSYNTHETICS

In many situations, conventional foundation systems could not be chosen in soft soil due to the low bearing capacity. In such a case, ground improvement or reinforcing of the ground is necessary to obtain the required bearing capacity. This paper deals with the use of geosynthetics to reinforce the ground for reducing ground deformation and increasing bearing capacity of the ground. This research is mainly focused on the soft clay soil which is more problematic than the sandy soils with respect to the building foundation of infrastructures. Here, numerical analysis has been carried out with the finite element method, using the elastoplastic sub loading t(ij) model. Bearing capacities for different over consolidation ratios (OCRs)and changing the depth of the reinforcement are compared. Bearing capacity is also checked replacing the soft clay with granular soil in between the foundation and reinforcement. It is found that reinforcement increases the bearing capacity of the soft clay and the increment of the bearing capacity depends on the depth of the reinforcement, OCR and improved area of the ground underneath the foundation.