Frictional properties between geocells filled with granular material

Abstract

The parameters concerning the interaction between geocell and granular materials is required for the design of many geotechnical structures. With this in mind, a series of experiments using simple direct shear tests are conducted in order to understand the frictional properties between geocells filled with granular materials. The 54 test samples are prepared by filling the geocell with granular materials having three different gradations. These samples are tested at three different relative densities under three different normal stress levels. As a result, it was observed that interface resistance between the geocells filled with granular material is found to be generally greater than in the samples without geocells. Additionally, these samples with geocells are found to be stiffer; this is due to the fact that the samples with geocell gained more cohesion because geocells confined the grains within a restricted volume.