Faculty Publications
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Item Performance of Footing on Clay Bed Reinforced with Coir Cell Networks(American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) onlinejls@asce.org 1801 Alexander Bell DriveGEO Reston VA 20191 Alabama, 2020) Kolathayar, S.; Narasimhan, S.; Kamaludeen, R.; Sitharam, T.G.Geocells are three-dimensional polymeric hexagonal pockets that provide lateral confinement to the soil, thereby increasing the bearing capacity of the soil bed. This paper briefly reviews past studies on geocell reinforcement of soil and presents a new product, cells made out of natural coir fiber, as an alternative to commercially available high-density polyethylene (HDPE) geocells. A series of model plate load tests were conducted on unreinforced soil and on soil reinforced with coir geocells to understand the soil reinforcement mechanism. It was observed that with the introduction of coir geocells, the load-bearing capacity of the soil bed increased up to three times and a significant reduction in the settlement was observed in the underlying weak soil bed. The study also presents a comparative performance evaluation of the natural coir cell-reinforced soil with conventional HDPE geocell-reinforced soil. Further, this paper analytically demonstrates the influence of the lateral resistance effect and vertical load dispersion effect incorporated by coir cells in strengthening the soil bed. © 2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.Item Performance Evaluation of Coir Geocells as Soil Retention System Under Dry and Wet Conditions(Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH info@springer-sbm.com, 2020) Chitrachedu, R.K.; Kolathayar, S.In the present study, coir is used to fabricate geocells and to construct model retaining walls for application in sloppy regions to retain the soil. The performance of coir geocells under dry and wet conditions during rainfall were evaluated by conducting laboratory model tests. The study presents horizontal and vertical deformation against surcharge load for different scenarios of reinforcement using geocells. A comparison was made between the performance of unreinforced slope, high-density polyethylene geocell retaining wall and coir geocell retaining wall to evaluate the potential of coir geocell over synthetic geocell as reinforcement. The roughness and absence of perforations in coir material resisted the movement and failure of the wall for a longer span. The horizontal displacement was more for coir geocell retaining wall compared to wall made of high density polyethylene (HDPE) geocells. This may be due to the interlocking effect in coir HDPE geocell as perforations provide contact between the sand particles. The inexpensive and easily disposable coir can be effectively used as reinforcement in the construction of a retaining wall. © 2020, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.Item Comparative Study for Performance of Soil Bed Reinforced with Jute and Sisal Geocells as Alternatives to HDPE Geocells(Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH, 2020) Kolathayar, S.; Sowmya, S.; Priyanka, E.This paper presents the performance of soil bed reinforced with jute and sisal geocells compared to HDPE geocells. The bearing pressure–settlement behaviour of the soil bed reinforced with natural geocells, soil bed reinforced with HDPE geocells and of unreinforced soil bed are discussed. The soil bed reinforced with jute cell and sisal cell showed a uniform increase in the settlement with increase in the applied pressure. The soil reinforced with HDPE geocell, however, showed a sudden rise in the settlement at higher pressure. Sisal mat used for developing the geocell was found to have greater tensile strength, followed by jute mat over HDPE material. Soil reinforced with sisal cells could bear larger stresses at lower strain compared to HDPE geocell. Analytical studies on jute and sisal geocells also were carried out considering the load transfer mechanism of geocell-reinforced soil. © 2020, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.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 Studies to Evaluate Performance of Coconut Shell Mat as Cellular Confinement in Sandy Soils(Springer, 2025) Gadekari, R.S.; Kolathayar, S.; Sreekeshava, K.S.This study investigates the use of coconut shells as a sustainable reinforcement material to enhance the bearing capacity of sandy soil. Laboratory model tests were conducted to assess the performance of coconut shell-reinforced sand as a foundation medium. Different shell arrangement patterns were analyzed and compared with the performance of HDPE geocells. The results indicate that coconut shell reinforcement substantially increases soil bearing capacity, from 218 kPa in unreinforced sand beds to 414.5 kPa with coconut shell mat reinforcement. Coconut shell mats present a cost-effective and environmentally friendly alternative to commercial geocells. However, their limited durability in untreated form confines their application to short-term uses, emphasizing the necessity for proper treatment to support long-term applications. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Indian Geotechnical Society 2025.Item Performance Evaluation of Jute Geocell-Reinforced Sand Subgrade with an Integrated Wooden Anchor Grid(Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH, 2025) Kumar, P.; Kumar, D.H.; Bandyopadhyay, T.S.; Raveendran, D.; Kolathayar, S.; Mulangi, R.H.The efficient confinement capabilities of geocells make them a popular reinforcement technique for improving soil stability and load-bearing capacity. However, the high costs of synthetic geocells and environmental concerns have driven interest in more sustainable and natural alternatives. This study presents a novel approach to subgrade reinforcement using a jute geocell (JG) made from jute fabric, further improved with a wooden anchor grid (WAG). The newly developed jute geocell with wooden anchor grid (JGWAG) consists of a natural wooden grid integrated with anchor pins placed at the center of each JG pocket, aiming to enhance load-bearing capacity. The effectiveness of this innovative reinforcement system was evaluated through static plate load tests on sand subgrade reinforced with JG mattresses of varying widths (1.33D, 2D, and 3.33D, where D is the loading plate diameter) and a WAG placed beneath the 2D-width geocell. The results demonstrated significant performance enhancements: load-bearing capacity increased by 41%, 83.8%, and 116% for 1.33D, 2D, and 3.33D, respectively, compared to unreinforced subgrade. Notably, adding WAG under the 2D-width geocell achieved a remarkable 186% improvement over the unreinforced case. Settlement reduction was also significant, with the JGWAG system decreasing settlement by 84.6% as compared to the unreinforced case, showcasing its superior effectiveness. This system improves load-bearing performance and provides a cost-effective solution by reducing the width of JG. Furthermore, the surface roughness of the JG was analyzed using a 3D surface profilometer, ensuring optimal contact and friction between the soil and reinforcement for improved load transfer. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2025.