A Numerical Study on the Application of Geocell Mat System for Buried Flexible Pipes

Mitigating surface settlement due to the applied pressure caused by loaded footings, construction activities, and traffic loads is of particular concern for designers. For sites with buried conduits at shallow depth, this problem becomes even more challenging as a result of transferred pressure to the pipe and subsequent pipe overstressing and deforming concerns. Several solutions have been introduced by many researchers to tackle this problem and yet new approaches are welcomed by engineering parties. The presented study aims to investigate the effect of Geocell Mat System (GMS) as soil reinforcement to control the footing and pipe performance. As the three-dimensional geocell structure has a significant effect on the soil-geocell interaction, several 3D models employing ABAQUS finite-element program were developed to examine the efficiency of mat systems. The focus was on the geometrical characteristics of GMS including the width of the mat (B g ), mat anchors distance (s), and mat thickness (h). The results of conducted analyses show that by including a mat system beneath the loaded area, the maximum ground surface is noticeably reduced. The role of B g , however, should be considered with particular attention. It was concluded that by using mats with small widths, the buried pipe experiences radial strains more than values in unreinforced cases. Moreover, it has been shown that the upper half of buried pipe is subjected to the more variation in all studied cases compared to the lower half part. As Well, the effect of anchors distance on the performance of pipe and footing could be regarded as an insignificant factor.