Investigation of bearing capacity of geocell-reinforced soils with field tests

The conditions that a foundation must be provided are that it can safely carry the loads transferred from the structure, it does not deform above the limits, it is durable and its properties do not change with the effect of climatic conditions. In order to provide these conditions, it is necessary to create a geotechnically qualified soil environment. Geotechnically qualified environment is obtained by applying various improvement methods to the soil. The geocell used for soil improvement purposes, interlocks with the filling material placed inside it due to friction, spreading the loads better and reducing the settlements. In this study, the effects of soil type, foundation geometry and size, geocell type and the vertical distance of the geocell from the soil surface on the bearing capacity were investigated in soils reinforced with geocells. For this purpose, three different soil types with 0-5 mm, 5-12 mm and 0-16 mm particle diameter sizes and two different geocells with 21x24.5x10 cm and 28x34x10 cm cell sizes were used in the plate loading tests conducted in the field environment. A total of six different model foundations with circular and square sections were used in the tests in which the effect of soil type was examined. It was determined that coarse-grained soil provides an average of 1.2 times more bearing capacity than soils with smaller particle sizes. With the decrease in cell size in the geocell, an approximately 4.03% increase in bearing capacity was obtained. Also, it was determined that the settlement values decreased with the increase in the number of cells per unit area.