Contribution of geotextiles to embankment stability

It is well known that the stability of an earth mass can be increased by various types of reinforcing inclusions. The objectives of this paper are (i) to evaluate the applicability of geotextile materials as a means of reinforcement in embankment systems; (ii) to investigate the properties of such reinforced structures; and (iii) to determine the mechanism through which the shear stresses transfer from the soil to reinforced geotextiles. To achieve these objectives, the response and stability of the embankment structure reinforced with geotextiles is investigated for a series of embankments with variable side slopes. The effect of the reinforcing geotextile in developing more rigidity at the base and in various layers in the embankment was also investigated. Several studies are then considered. In each case a failure analysis is conducted.; Each failure analysis presented consists of three phases: (i) the selection of shear strength by conventional methods, (ii) the results of limit equilibrium analyses of stability, and (iii) the stability analyses by using finite element methods. These analyses involve both unreinforced and reinforced embankment with geotextiles of the identical module at different layers so that the contribution of geotextiles to improve the embankment behavior can be evaluated. The finite element analysis used an undrained deformation pattern and is capable of defining the potential zones of yielding of the foundation soils. The finite element method also indicates a mode of failure, which has been compared with that obtained from the limit equilibrium method. The undrained case is shown to be appropriate for evaluating the response of an embankment system built on a soft foundation immediately after construction.; Furthermore, the response and safety under transient earthquake loading was studied. This involves seismic shaking in multi-directions using earthquake-type base accelerations. The effect of dynamic loading on the seismic behavior of unreinforced and reinforced embankments at multi-layer of construction stages at variable side slopes was also investigated.