Experimental Assessment of Geocell-Reinforced Sandy Subgrades Under Traffic-Induced Dynamic Loading

This study performs a comprehensive experimental analysis of the dynamic response of geocell-reinforced sandy subgrades exposed to traffic-induced loading. A series of laboratory tests were performed using a custom-manufactured loading apparatus capable of creating monitored dynamic waveforms representative of vehicular traffic. A steel strip footing was assigned on both unreinforced and geocell-reinforced sandy beds to evaluate the implementation of the reinforcement in attenuating transmitted vertical stresses and surface settlements. The influence of key parameters, among which were load amplitude (0.5 and 1.0 tons), loading frequency (0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 Hz), and relative density of sand (30% loose and 60% medium), was systematically examined. The applied dynamic loading was based on a force-controlled sinusoidal waveform with constant amplitudes and frequencies, which corresponded to low-frequency harmonic cyclic loading in the case of traffic-induced quasi-static effects. Therefore, the experimental results indicate that geocell reinforcement reduces the transmitted vertical dynamic stress by up to 45% and reduces surface settlement by about 60% compared to unreinforced sand. However, the heightening efficiency decreases with loading frequency, the amplitude of the load, and the relative sand density. Thus, the findings are important in highlighting the capacity of geocell systems to enhance the longevity and efficiency of sand substrates when the systems are subjected to low-frequency harmonic cyclical loading conditions pertaining to traffic-induced quasi-static influences.