Beams on extensible geosynthetics and stone-column-improved soil

Abstract

In the present study the response of rails, treated as infinite beams, resting on geosynthetic-reinforced granular fill on top of stone-column-treated soft soil, was studied under the action of moving loads. The granular fill layer was modelled as a Pasternak shear layer and the extensible geosynthetic layer as a rough elastic membrane. The stone columns and soft soil were idealised by non-linear Winkler springs and a Kelvin–Voigt body, respectively. Due consideration is given to the range of parametric values that are normally found to be valid in the case of railway tracks. A detailed parametric study revealed that the magnitude and velocity of a moving load, viscous damping, the diameter and spacing of stone columns, the ultimate bearing resistance of stone columns and the soft soil, tensile modulus of geosynthetics, relative compressibility of stone columns and average degree of consolidation significantly affect the response of the soil–foundation system.