A Comparison Between the Results of the Numerical and Experimental Analysis of Pull- Out Strength of Geogrid and Grid- Anchor Surrounded by Coarse Soil Layer in Cohesive Soil

The pull- out strength of the reinforcement has a significant role on the function of the most reinforced soil structures. Since the coarse grain soils have a better interaction with the reinforcement, they are mostly used in these structures. In most situations, we have to transfer these granular soils from the borrow area, usually far from the site of the project. This will impose a considerable amount of cost to the project. In this research, it is trying to use just a thin layer of coarse grain soil for surrounding the reinforcements. This is because of the important role of the pull- out strength on determining the kind of the reinforcements. From this point of view, in this paper, the results of the pull- out experiments conducted on an ordinary geogrid and an innovative reinforcement, that is named Grid- Anchor, are presented. While just a layer of coarse grain soil, with the selected thicknesses, is surrounding the reinforcement, the remained volume is replaced with the fine grain soils. Furthermore, the numerical analysis for these experiments is conducted using the finite element code, Plaxis 3D Tunnel. The numerical and experimental results indicate the efficiency of the cited method for cutting the expenses while keeping the function of the reinforced soil.