Centrifuge model tests of geotextile-reinforced soil embankments during an earthquake

The behavior of geotextile-reinforced embankments during an earthquake was investigated using centrifuge model tests, considering a variety of factors such as gradient of slope, water content of soil, geotextile spacing, and input shaking wave. The geotextile-reinforcement mechanism was revealed on the basis of the observations with comparison of the unreinforced embankment. The geotextile significantly decreases the deformation of the embankment and restricts sliding failure that occurs in the unreinforced embankment during an earthquake. The displacement exhibits an evidently irreversible accumulation with a fluctuation during the earthquake which is significantly dependent on the magnitude of input shaking. The peak strain of the geotextile exhibits a nearly triangular distribution in the vertical direction. The embankment can be divided into two zones, a restricting zone and restricted zone, where the soil and geotextile, respectively, play an active restriction role in the soil-geotextile interaction. The soil restricts the geotextile in the restricting zone, and this restriction is transferred to the restricted zone through the geotextile. The strain magnitude of the geotextile and the horizontal displacement of the geotextile-reinforced embankment decrease with increasing geotextile layers, with decreasing water content of the soil, with decreasing gradient of the slope, and with decreasing amplitude of the earthquake wave. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.