A comparative study on the performance of piled embankments with and without the geosynthetic reinforcement

This paper presents a study of the performance of piled embankments with and without the inclusion of reinforcement layers through finite element analysis. A 3-D column model of a geosynthetic reinforced piled embankment was developed and analyzed using ABAQUS software. The proposed model has been calibrated against the data from a full-scale field study reported in the literature. The influences of the number of geosynthetic layers on the embankment surface settlements at the end of construction and at the end of consolidation period has been studied. The paper also discusses the influence of reinforcement on the axial loads transferred to the pile and the tension developed in the reinforcement at the end of the construction.