Abstract
The granular fill overlying the soft soil is reinforced with one planar layer of geosynthetics which is subjected to axi-symmetric loading. Pasternak's model has been modified to incorporate the ‘tensile membrane’ action of reinforcing layer. Tensile forces within the reinforcement induces confining stress along the interfaces which is being quantified in terms of increase in shear modulus of the granular fill. In this paper variable shear moduli of the granular fill have been obtained based on axi-symmetric loading situation. Nonlinear hyperbolic responses of the granular and soft soil are introduced into the formulation. Parametric study reported in this paper signifies that confinement effect of single reinforcement layer ensures improved response of the foundation. A practical example explains how a single layer of reinforcement improves the shear modulus (G) of the soil compared to the unreinforced granular fill resting on soft soil.
