Bearing Capacity of Rectangular Footings on Geogrid‐Reinforced Sand

A study was undertaken to investigate the bearing capacity of rectangular footings on geogrid‐reinforced sand by performing laboratory model tests as well as finite‐element analyses. The effects of the depth to the first layer of reinforcement, vertical spacing of reinforcement layers, number of reinforcement layers, and the size of reinforcement sheet on the bearing capacity were investigated. Both the experimental and analytical studies indicated that there was an optimum reinfprcement embedment depth at which the bearing capacity was the highest when single‐layer reinforcement was used. Also, there appeared to be an optimum reinforcement spacing for multi‐layer reinforced sand. The bearing capacity of reinforced sand was also found to increase with reinforcement layer number and reinforcement size when the reinforcement was placed within a certain effective zone. In addition, the analysis indicated that increasing reinforcement stiffness beyond a certain value would not bring about further increase in the bearing capacity.