Effect of rheological behavior of geosynthetics on settlement response

In this paper the effect of rheological or long-term behavior of geosynthetic layer on the settlement response of reinforced granular fill-soft soil system has been studied. The system is modeled by mechanical elements such as the standard linear solid (SLS) model to predict the rheological behavior of the geosynthetic reinforcement at low stress level over a limited time period, spring-dashpot elements for the soft foundation soil and shear layer for granular fill. The consolidation effect of the soft soil has also been incorporated in the model. The resulting governing differential equations are solved using finite difference method in an iterative manner and the obtained results are presented in a nondimensional form. Parametric studies carried out for a uniformly loaded strip footing resting on the reinforced bed show that apart from loading intensity and soil properties, the nondimensional model parameters reflecting the rheological behavior affect significantly the settlement response of the reinforced foundation.