TITLE:
Finite Element Modeling of Geotextile Reinforced Embankments on Soft Clay
AUTHORS:
Diaa W. El Hourani, Ify L. Nwaogazie, Godfrey Waribo TomJaja
KEYWORDS:
Reinforced Soil, Embankments, Soft Soils, Slope Stability
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Civil Engineering,
Vol.13 No.1,
March
10,
2023
ABSTRACT: The use
of geotextiles as a reinforcement material for improving the factor of safety
against slope failure in embankments built on soft clay is becoming a common
practice. This work is intended to help understand the effect of the geotextile
reinforcement has on such embankments and to provide a design aid for civil
engineers that enables them to quickly estimate the factor of safety against
slope failure. Seventy four different cases were modelled and analyzed using a
finite element software, GeoStudio 2018 R2. The results showed that the optimum
improvement was achieved when using a single layer of geotextile reinforcement
placed at the base of the embankment, by which the factor of safety increased
by up to 40%. Adding a second layer, a third layer and a fourth layer,
increases the safety factor by 2.5%, 1% and 0.5% respectively. Different charts
for different heights of embankments were presented to aid in finding the most
suitable slope angle and number of reinforcement layers required to achieve a
certain safety factor.