Residual deformation of geosynthetic-reinforced sand in plane strain compression affected by viscous properties of geosynthetic reinforcement

A series of plane strain compression (PSC) tests were performed on large sand specimens unreinforced or reinforced with prototype geosynthetic reinforcements, either of two geogrid types and one geocomposite type. Local tensile strains in the reinforcement were measured by using two types of strain gauges. Sustained loading (SL) under fixed boundary stress conditions and cyclic loading (CL) tests were performed during otherwise monotonic loading at a constant strain rate to evaluate the development of creep deformation by SL and residual deformation by CL of geosynthetic-reinforced sand and also residual strains in the reinforcement by these loading histories. It is shown that the creep deformation of geosynthetic-reinforced sand develops due to the viscous properties of both sand and geosynthetic reinforcement, while the residual deformation of geosynthetic-reinforced sand during CL (defined at the peak stress state during CL) consists of two components: i) the one by the viscous properties of sand and reinforcement; and ii) the other by rate-independent cyclic loading effects with sand. The development of residual deformation of geosynthetic-reinforced sand by SL and CL histories had no negative effects on the Subsequent stress-strain behaviour and the compressive strength was maintained as the original value or even became larger by such SL and CL histories. The local tensile strains in the geosynthetic reinforcement arranged in the sand specimen subjected to SL decreased noticeably with time, due mainly to lateral compressive creep strains in sand during SL of geosynthetic-reinforced sand. This result indicates that, with geosynthetic-reinforced soil structures designed to have a sufficiently high safety factor under static loading conditions because of seismic design, it is overly conservative to assume that the tensile load in the geosynthetic reinforcement is maintained constant for long life time. Moreover, during CL of geosynthetic-reinforced sand, the residual tensile strains in the geosynthetic reinforcement did not increase like global strains in the geosynthetic-reinforced sand that increased significantly during CL. These different trends of behaviour were also due to the creep compressive strains in the lateral direction of sand that developed during CL of geosynthetic-reinforced sand.