DEM analysis of “soil”-arching within geogrid-reinforced and unreinforced pile-supported embankments

Abstract Geogrid-reinforced and pile-supported (GRPS) embankments have been widely used in road engineering due to their economy and effectiveness. The soil arching effect is a key factor in the load transfer mechanism of GRPS technique. In this study, a series of numerical simulations are conducted with the particle flow code PFC2D to study the evolution of soil arching with increasing surcharge. First, an Improved Multi-layer Compaction Method (IMCM) is proposed and applied to establish the Discrete Element Method (DEM) models with more reasonable initial stress states. Validation is then conducted by comparing the DEM results with experimental data. Second, detailed macro-behaviour (e.g., efficacy) and micro-behaviour (e.g., contact forces and fabric anisotropy) analyses are performed. Finally, parametric study is performed to identify the effects of two key factors, i.e., the stiffness of subsoil and the grain composition of embankment fill. Simulation results indicate that the strong force network (SN) serves as a load-carrying force chain, which is the main component of soil arching; while the weak force network (WN) acts as a support system. When a pile-supported embankment is high enough, the soil arching will experience three stages as the surcharge increases. In the first stage, the soil arching develops and its effect is strengthened gradually. In the second stage, the soil arching is fully mobilized and experiences a “forming-failure-reforming” process as the surcharge increases. While in the third stage, the embankment is unable to form a new stable soil arching and the efficacy decreases gradually. However, for the GRPS embankment, due to the reinforcement of geogrid, the third stage will not occur throughout the entire surcharge range of interest in this study. On the basis of the macro- and micro-results, the conclusion can be drawn that the presence of geogrid does not alter the failure mode of soil arching under the surcharge, though it is able to evidently improve the efficacy of load transfer and enhance the stability of soil arching.