Performance of unreinforced and geogrid-reinforced pile-supported embankments under localized surface loading: Analytical investigation

An analytical solution is proposed to identify the performance of unreinforced and geogrid-reinforcement pile-supported embankments under localized surface loading at working stress conditions based on the total efficacy and efficacy induced by soil arching alone, average strain of geogrid reinforcement, and average settlement of subsoil. This solution considered interactively soil arching within the embankment fill, the load-deflection behavior of geogrid reinforcement (if existed), and subsoil settlement. Specifically, the soil arching consisted of a structural arch with different stress states (evaluated by the elastoplastic state coefficient K) and a frictional arch. The load-deflection behavior of geogrid reinforcement was modeled by a membrane, with due consideration of the skin friction between the geogrid and soil. The subsoil was idealized as a one-dimensional compression model. The effectiveness of the proposed solution was verified by comparisons with results from the collected literature. It is shown that geogrid reinforcement improved the performance of embankments with low subsoil stiffness significantly more than that of those with high stiffness subsoil. A high tensile stiffness geogrid was found to be inefficient because its contribution to reducing the subsoil settlement and enhancing the load transfer efficacy was minimal. This paper provides a significant reference for optimizing these embankment design.