Reinforced Soil

The performance of geotechnical structures (such as roads, foundations, embankments and retaining walls) can often be improved by the use of soil reinforcement. A lengthy program of research has been underway at Oxford University on developing an improved understanding of the mechanics of reinforced soil.

Current Research

Surface Reinforcement for Steep Slopes
Research is currently underway in collaboration with Prof. Cesar Sagaseta and Dr Almudena da Costa of the University of Cantabria at Santander in Spain. This project is concerned with the study of soil reinforcement methods to prevent the development of shallow instabilities in steep slopes. The Oxford contribution to this research is concerned with the development of finite element procedures (based on the program OXFEM) to investigate the influence of soil weathering on the stresses developed in the reinforcement and the deformations of the slope.

Thesis
Da Costa Garcia, A. (2004) Inestabilidades por degradación superficial de taludes en suelos. Corrección mediante sistemas de refuerzo anclados. Tesis Doctoral, Universidad de Cantabria, Espana.

Publications

Theses

• Love, J.P. (1985) D.Phil. "Model Testing of Geogrids in Unpaved Roads" abstract | thesis (5.37MB, pdf)


• Dyer, M.R. (1985) D.Phil. "Observation of the Stress Distribution in Crushed Glass with Applications to Soil Reinforcement" abstract | thesis (5.47MB, pdf)


• Burd, H.J. (1986) D.Phil. "A Large Displacement Finite Element Analysis of a Reinforced Unpaved Road" abstract | thesis (5.45MB, pdf)


• Fannin, R.J. (1986) D.Phil. "Geogrid Reinforcement of Granular Layers on Soft Clay - a Study at Model and Full Scale" abstract | thesis (4.84MB, pdf)


• Palmeira, E.M. (1987) D.Phil. "The Study of Soil Reinforcement Interaction by Means of Large Scale Laboratory Tests" abstract | thesis (13.1MB, pdf)


• Pedley, M.J. (1990) D.Phil. "The Performance of Soil Reinforcement in Bending and Shear" abstract | thesis (18.2MB, pdf)


• Brocklehurst, C.J. (1993) D.Phil. "Finite Element Studies of Reinforced and Unreinforced Two-Layer Soil Systems" abstract | thesis (8.44MB, pdf)


• Tei, K. (1993) D.Phil. "A Study of Soil Nailing in Sand" abstract | thesis (7.08MB, pdf)


• Morris, J.D. (1999) D.Phil. "Physical and Numerical Modelling of Grouted Nails in Clay" abstract | thesis (7.18MB, pdf)

Journal Papers

• Burd, H.J. and Houlsby, G.T. (1986) A Large Strain Finite Element Formulation for One Dimensional Membrane Elements. Computers and Geotechnics, 2(1) 3-22


• Love, J.P, Burd, H.J., Milligan, G.W.E. and Houlsby, G.T. (1987) Analytical and Model Studies of Reinforcement of a Layer of Granular Fill on a Soft Clay Subgrade. Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 24(4), 611-622


• Hermann, S. and Burd, H.J. (1988) An Instrumented Field Test of a Reinforced Steep Embankment. Geotextiles and Geomembranes, 7, 293-308.


• Houlsby, G.T., Milligan, G.W.E., Jewell, R.A. and Burd, H.J. (1989) A New Approach to the Design of Unpaved Roads: Part I. Ground Engineering, 22(3), April, 25-29, Corrigendum: Ground Engineering, 22(5) July, 26


• Milligan, G.W.E., Jewell, R.A., Houlsby, G.T. and Burd, H.J. (1989) A New Approach to the Design of Unpaved Roads: Part II, Ground Engineering, 22( 8), 37-42


• Palmeira, E.M. and Milligan, G.W.E. (1989) Large Scale Direct Shear Tests on Reinforced Soil. Soils and Foundations, 29(1), 18-30


• Palmeira, E.M. and Milligan, G.W.E. (1990) Scale and Other Factors Affecting the Results of Pull-out Tests of Grids buried in Sand. Geotechnique, 39(3), 511-524


• Burd, H.J. (1995) Analysis of Membrane Action in Reinforced Unpaved Roads. Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 32(6), 946-956 (ISSN 0008-3674)


• Milligan, G.W.E. and Tei, K. (1998) Pull-Out Resistance of Model Soil Nails. Soils and Foundations, 38(2), 179-190


• Burd, H.J. (1996) Analysis of Membrane Action in Reinforced Unpaved Roads. Reply to discussion by R.A. Douglas, Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 33, 843-845.

Conference papers

• Burd, H.J. and Houlsby, G.T. (1989) Numerical Modelling of Reinforced Unpaved Roads. Third International Symposium on Numerical Models in Geomechanics, Niagara Falls, May 8-11, 699-706


• Burd, H.J. and Brocklehurst, C.J. (1990) Finite Element Studies of the Mechanics of Reinforced Unpaved Roads. Proc. Conf. on Geotextiles, Geomembranes and Related Products, The Hague, Netherlands, May 1990, 217-221


• Pearson, A.E. and Milligan, G.W.E. (1991) Model tests of reinforced soil in conjunction with flexible culverts. Performance of Reinforced Soil Structures, McGown, A, Yeo, K.C., and Andrawes, K.Z. (Eds.) Thomas Telford, London, pp.365-369


• Burd, H.J. and Brocklehurst, C.J. (1992) Parametric Studies of a Soil Reinforcement Problem Using Finite Element Analysis. Proceedings of the International Conference on Computer Methods and Advances in Geomechanics, Cairns, Australia, May 6-10 1991, 1783-1788.


• Jewell, R.A., Burd, H.J. and Milligan, G.W.E. (1993) Predicting the Effect of Boundary Forces on the Behaviour of Reinforced Soil Walls. Proceedings of the Wroth Memorial Symposium, Predictive Soil Mechanics, Oxford, July 27-29, Thomas Telford, 378-393.


• Burd, H.J., Houlsby, G.T. and Brocklehurst, C.J. (1994) Analysis of the Use of Membranes in Oil Tank Foundations. Proc. Third European Conference on Numerical Methods in Geotechnical Engineering - ECONMIG 94, Manchester, UK, 7-9 September 1994. 293-298.


• Houlsby, G.T. and Burd, H.J (1999) Understanding the behaviour of unpaved roads on soft clay. Proc. 12th European Conf. on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, Amsterdam, June 1999, 31-44.

Reports

• Burd, H.J. (1986) A Snow Avalanche Barrier of Reinforced Earth at Aandalsnes: Results and Analysis of Instrumentation Data. NGI Report No. 52757-3, Norwegian Geotechnical Institute, Oslo.


• Love, J.P, Burd, H.J., Milligan, G.W.E. and Houlsby, G.T. (1986) Analytical and Model Studies of Reinforcement of a Layer of Granular Fill on a Soft Clay Subgrade. OUEL Report No. 1660/86, SM068/86, Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford


• Houlsby, G.T., Burd, H.J., Milligan, G.W.E., Jewell, R.A. and Brocklehurst, C.J. (1990) Research at Oxford of Reinforced unpaved Roads, 1989/90. OUEL Report No. 1820/90, SM105/90, Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford


• Burd, H.J. (1994) Analysis of Membrane Action in Reinforced Unpaved Roads. OUEL Report No. 2035/94, Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford


• Lesniewska, D. and Burd, H.J. (1995) Finite Element Analysis of Reinforced Soil Retaining Walls. OUEL Report No. 2074/95, Department of Engineering Science, Oxford University.