Investigation of microgrid reinforcement effect on the ring footings

The design and construction of footings in buildings to be built in areas where soft or loose soil conditions results an important problem for civil engineers. To eliminate this problem, either deep footing systems or soil improvement methods should be applied on the footing soil. In soil reinforcement applications, which is one of the soil improvement techniques, geosynthetic reinforcements can be placed in the soil against bearing capacity and settlement problems. In this study, the behavior of ring and circular footings resting on loose sand soil reinforced with microgrid reinforcement with different geometries, was analyzed by model experiments. The optimum reinforcement parameters were investigated by changing the first reinforcement depth, the distance between the reinforcement, the width of the reinforcement, the number of reinforcements, the reinforcement geometry and the reinforcement combination. The tests were carried out in the laboratory using a loading mechanism and the load-settlement values were presented in graphics. As a result of the tests, the optimum reinforcement parameters for the ring-shaped model footings obtained are; the first reinforcement depth 0,4R (in square shaped reinforcement), 0,2R (in circular shaped reinforcement) and 0,2R (in ring shaped reinforcement); distance between reinforcements 0,2R (in circular shaped reinforcement), reinforcement width 2,5R (in circle shaped reinforcement) and the number of reinforcements 3 (circle shaped reinforcement). In model tests in which circular model footings are used, optimum reinforcement parameters are; the first reinforcement depth 0,4D (in square shaped reinforcement), 0,3D (in circular shaped reinforcement) and 0,4D (in ring shaped reinforcement); the distance between the reinforcements 0,3D (in the circle shaped reinforcement), the reinforcement width 2,5D (in the circle shaped reinforcement) and the number of the reinforcements 3 (in the circle shaped reinforcement).