Numerical analysis of installation damage of a pre-damaged geogrid with rectangular apertures

Abstract

The geogrid can be damaged in the process or during construction if sufficient care is not exercised. In this study, the numerical software-FLAC was adopted to investigate the responses of pre-damaged geogrids with rectangular apertures when subjected to a uniaxial tensile load at different directions relative to the orientations of ribs in air. To simulate the combined loss of ribs and junction strength, specimens were pre-damaged by reducing certain amount of stiffness of the geogrid ribs. The geogrid ribs were modeled using beam elements jointed rigidly at nodes and subjected to tension in one direction. The numerical study demonstrated that the pre-damaged geogrid with rectangular apertures had similar responses when it was subjected to tension at the loading directions. The pre-damaged geogrids under 30° tension are the most sensitivity to the damage. With the increase of the degree of damage, the tensile strengths decreased relative quickly. An increase of the degree of installation damage of ribs decreased the tensile strength/stiffness of the geogrid with rectangular apertures. A higher reduction factor RFID due to installation damage is suggested when the geogrid is subjected to 30° tension relative to the orientation of ribs.