Suelo reforzado con geosintéticos: influencia del porcentaje de volumen de suelo confinado por el geosintético en la resistencia del conjunto

Abstract

Since ancient times soil reinforcement has been used to improve its mechanical properties, in modern times this type of soil improvement has spread dramatically. The use of geosynthetics as a reinforcing material within granular soils is a methodology that has been in continuous use and development. The existing literature does not show a concrete analysis of the influence of soil confinement, generated by the geosynthetic, within the set. The present work covers this specific topic, through simple compression tests on a reinforced granular soil. Materials available in the city of Cuenca are used: a sandy soil from the Rookaazul mine and an NT 1600 geotextile. A variable amount of reinforcement is used, in size and quantity. This variation generates different confinement volumes of the material. The results indicate an increase in the strength of the reinforced soil as both the number of reinforcements and the diameter increases. This triggers a clear influence of the volume of soil confined by the geosynthetic in the resistance of the whole. But there is a dispersion of some results that should be analyzed through the replication of the trials or through the increase of the tests carried out. With the obtained results they constitute a first incursion in the analysis of the influence of the volume of confinement, that could be deepened and taken to the theories of design of specific works.