An assessment of the geometry effect of geosynthetics for base course reinforcements

Geosynthetic-reinforced base course is potentially a cost-effective solution for flexible pavement construction. With the recent advance in the mechanistic-empirical pavement design in the United States, there is a need to develop the next generation design method for geosynthetic-reinforced bases in flexible pavements. To develop such a design method requires an improved understanding about the mechanistic behavior, especially the in-plane elastic behavior, of geosynthetics. In this paper, the geometry effect of geosynthetics was discussed. The author first reviewed recent experimental and numerical studies. Analytical equations based on cellular material mechanics were presented for determining the in-plane elastic properties of geosynthetics. The analytical equations were used to evaluate a few geosynthetics with typical geometries. The results showed that, with the same polymeric material and typical product geometries, the geocell has a better confinement effect than geogrids, and the triaxial geogrid with a triangular aperture has a better confinement effect than the biaxial geogrid with a rectangular aperture. It was also demonstrated that the traditional uniaxial tensile modulus may be a poor indicator of the effectiveness of geosynthetics for base course reinforcements.