Faculty Publications
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Item Model Footing Tests and Analytical Studies on Clayey Soil Bed Reinforced with Coconut Shell Mat(Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH, 2022) Kolathayar, S.; Gadekari, R.S.The cellular confinement systems are becoming popular in ground improvement because of their efficiency in improving the bearing capacity of soil due to the lateral confinement effect. The commercially available geocells are made from polymer materials and they are costly. This study presents the performance evaluation of coconut shell mat as a cellular confinement system in clayey soil. It is the first of its kind application of coconut shells for soil reinforcement through a lateral confinement mechanism. This soil reinforcement system using coconut shells is termed “Geococoshell” by the authors. A series of model plate load tests were conducted on unreinforced soil, soil reinforced with High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) geocells, and soil reinforced with coconut shell mats to evaluate the performance of coconut shell mat reinforced soil bed. The results of the experiments showed that coconut shells reinforced clayey soil improved bearing capacity up to 1.5 times compared to HDPE geocell reinforced clayey bed. The effect of different patterns of placing coconut shell mat was also studied and discussed in the paper. The analytical studies have been conducted considering the reinforcement mechanisms of coconut shell mat embedded in the soil bed. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.Item Experimental Evaluation of Geocoir Cell-Reinforced Sand Beds with Different Infill Materials(Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH, 2025) Namburu, S.K.; Venkateswarlu, H.; Kolathayar, S.Exploring sustainable alternatives to polymeric materials for reinforcement applications has gained considerable momentum in recent years. This research explores the use of locally sourced, bio-based materials, specifically geocoir cell mattresses and coconut shell infills, to offer eco-friendly and cost-effective reinforcement solutions. The methodology involves conducting model plate load tests on sand beds, both unreinforced and reinforced with geocoir cell mattresses filled with either coconut shell pieces or sand. The primary objective is to evaluate the load-settlement behaviour and load-bearing capacity of these reinforced beds. The study demonstrates that geocoir cell-reinforced sand beds, when filled with coconut shell pieces, exhibit significantly enhanced load-settlement behaviour compared to traditional sand infill. The results indicate that coconut shell infill increases load-bearing capacity by up to 4.98 times and reduces settlement by 88%. These findings demonstrate the potential of geocoir cells and coconut shells as eco-friendly, cost-effective alternatives for soil reinforcement in construction. The benefit of this study is understanding performance benefits of geocoir cell with coconut shell infill and utilizing such material in for reinforcement applications reduce the reliance on synthetic polymers and enhance the geotechnical performance in terms of extending the service life and minimizing the maintenance costs. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2025.