• PDF / 1,723,086 Bytes
• 14 Pages / 547.087 x 737.008 pts Page_size
• 115 Downloads / 176 Views

DOWNLOAD

REPORT

---

(0123456789().,-volV) ( 01234567 89().,-volV)

ORIGINAL PAPER

Performance Evaluation of Coir Geocells as Soil Retention System Under Dry and Wet Conditions Rajesh Kumar Chitrachedu . Sreevalsa Kolathayar

Received: 25 October 2018 / Accepted: 28 June 2020  Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020

Abstract In the present study, coir is used to fabricate geocells and to construct model retaining walls for application in sloppy regions to retain the soil. The performance of coir geocells under dry and wet conditions during rainfall were evaluated by conducting laboratory model tests. The study presents horizontal and vertical deformation against surcharge load for different scenarios of reinforcement using geocells. A comparison was made between the performance of unreinforced slope, high-density polyethylene geocell retaining wall and coir geocell retaining wall to evaluate the potential of coir geocell over synthetic geocell as reinforcement. The roughness and absence of perforations in coir material resisted the movement and failure of the wall for a longer span. The horizontal displacement was more for coir geocell retaining wall compared to wall made of high density polyethylene (HDPE) geocells. This may be due to the interlocking effect in coir HDPE geocell as perforations provide contact between the

R. K. Chitrachedu Department of Civil Engineering, Amrita School of Engineering Coimbatore, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore, India e-mail: [email protected] S. Kolathayar (&) Department of Civil Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Surathkal, Karnataka, India e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]

sand particles. The inexpensive and easily disposable coir can be effectively used as reinforcement in the construction of a retaining wall. Keywords Coir  Geocell retaining wall  HDPE  Bearing pressure  Settlement

1 Introduction Constructions are taking place in hilly areas due to the rapid increase in the population. The slope failures in these regions are mainly due to rainfall. These failures are immediate and drastic, which does not let the people living there to evacuate during the slope failure. Geocells are relatively a recent advancement in building flexible retaining wall systems. Geocell retaining systems are considered as green solutions as it paves the way for a reduction in the usage of cement in traditional gravity retaining walls. Geocell systems are inert and chemically non-reactive to soils. Generally, High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) and polypropylene are used for making geocells, which in layers are stacked as facing to create the geocell retaining walls. These geocells are made by ultrasonic welding of polymeric sheets with the required dimensions. Earth retention systems, including retaining walls built from cellular confinement systems are especially resistant to dynamic loads, such as shock

123

Geotech Geol Eng

waves related to seismic activity from earthquakes (Chen and Chiu 2008). When interconnected geocells are filled with soil, the load