ANALYSIS OF INFLUENCE FACTORS CONTROLLING EFFECTS OF EMBANKMENT REINFORCEMETN BY GEOGRIDS

Geogirds,a new type of geosynthetics,are used to reduce settlement and lateral displacement of embankment because of their high strength and low elongation.In this paper,a general-purpose non-linear finite element program,ABAQUS,was used to evaluate vertical displacement at the bottom of embankment,horizontal displacements at the embankment toe at depth and ground surface.In the analysis Drucker-Prager model and Clay plasticity model were used to characterize the non-linearity of soil,while one-dimension truss element was used to represent the geogrid.Sensitivity analysis were conducted for factors such as the layer-number of reinforcements,the modulus of geogrids,the modulus of soft clay foundation,the thickness of soft clay foundation and embankment height.The results showed that geogrid reinforcement greatly reduced lateral displacement,but it has less effect on the vertical displacements.Reinforcement can also.improve the embankment stability.The analysis results matched well with observed displacement data.