Influence of the Geotextile Force on the Stability of Embankments

Abstract

The behavior of Geotextile reinforced force on reinforced embankment was analyzed in this study. The embankment was backfilled with flyash (80%) and clay(20%) soil and the safety factors obtained from general limit equilibrium and finite element analysis. Variable Geotextile stiffness of 50–2000 kN/m and varying spacing, Sv of 0.4 and 0.5 m were taken as reinforcement and series of finite element (FEM) analyses were carried out with GEO5-FEM software. The FEM analysis results showed that the maximum geo-reinforcement force was observed in first layer of Geotextile, placed at bottom of the embankment in the range of 0.66 kN/m at extreme ends to 2.34 kN/m at central region of embankment. There was no force developed in geotextile from both sides of embankment boundary upto 5 m. Amongst the total number of 15th layers of geotextile (Sv = 0.5 m), and 19th layers of Geotextile (Sv = 0.4 m), the Geotextile forces were observed only upto the 13th layer and 16th layer of Geotextile reinforced embankment, respectively. Beyond these layers, there are no forces in geotextile. Hence, there is no requirement of Geotextile reinforcements at top 1.0–1.2 m of the embankment crest width. From this observation it can also be concluded that for further economy, the tensile strength or stiffness of each layer of Geotextile can be varied for a given reinforced embankment slope by providing geotextile of higher strength or stiffness at the bottom of the embankment and lower strength or stiffness at the top of the embankment. It results in savings in terms of cost, time, material, and execution.