| To investigate the effects of two typical reinforcement (i.e., geogrid and geocell) on the strength and deformation characteristics of reinforced crushed stone composites, large-scale triaxial tests were conducted. The analysis focused on the axial deviatoric stress-axial strain relationship, volumetric strain-axial strain relationship, peak strength, reinforcement effectiveness coefficient, and deformation/failure modes of the specimens under varying vertical spacings and layer numbers of the two reinforcements. The investigation results show that the axial deviatoric stress-axial strain relationship curves of geogrid reinforced crushed stone composites under different vertical spacings were consistently higher than those of geocell reinforced specimens. As the vertical spacing of reinforcement increased, the peak strengths of both reinforced composites initially increased and then decreased. However, the geogrid reinforced specimens exhibited more pronounced variations in peak strength. At the vertical spacings of 150 mm and 200 mm, the geogrid reinforced specimens demonstrated a more evident strain hardening tendency, while the volumetric strain changes of both reinforced composites remained relatively small. With an increasing number of reinforcement layers, the peak strength of geogrid reinforced crushed stone composites increased faster than that of geocell reinforced specimens. Notably, the peak strength of 1-layer geogrid reinforced composites approached that of 3-layer geocell reinforced specimens. As the number of reinforcement layers increased, the lateral deformation constraints imposed by the reinforcements on the soil gradually strengthened. Both types of reinforced composites showed higher reinforcement utilization efficiency under single- and double-layer configurations. These findings provide valuable references for the design of geosynthetic reinforced soil structures. |
