Investigation on Mechanical Behavior of Embedded Geocell in Geocell-Reinforced Railway Embankment

Increasing axle load and speed of travel on existing railway tracks is one of the approaches that is taken by the industry to improve rail transportation system. In this regard, improvement of railway embankments as an important part of railway infrastructure is increasingly appearing as a necessity. In this study, the application of geocell layers in railway embankment body as an improvement technique for geotechnical issues is surveyed. A numerical model is developed that resembles an embankment of 10-meter height on a scale 1:20 in the laboratory setup. The sensitivity analysis is carried out on the adhesion and elastic modulus of the embankment, geocell elastic modulus, and the embankment length. Loading is carried out on each reinforced and non-reinforced embankments until failure. The results indicate an increase in the loading capacity of the embankment and reduction of the crest settlement proportional to the increase in the number of geocell layers. Monitoring the geocell behavior indicates that stress inside the embedded geocell under loading is low in comparison with the tensile test result of the geocell.