Geotechnical Engineering Journal of the SEAGS & AGSSEA ISSN 0046-5828
Vol. 54 No. 3 September 2023
Experimental Behaviour of Nailed Soil by GFRP Bars
S. Sghaier, S. Ellouze, M. Bouassida, A. Bezuijen, B. Hadrich and A. Daoud
ABSTRACT: Replacing steel reinforcements with the inclusions of Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) is one of the most promising solutions not only to overcome corrosion problems, but also to improve soil nail durability as a tool of slopes stabilization and retaining excavations. The present study provides an insightful knowledge regarding the pull-out behaviour of a GFRP nail observed in laboratory from a pull-out test. It is a parametric study, which includes the influence of nail dimensions, the overburden pressure, and the degree of saturation, essentially on the pull-out load of the GFRP nail. Using an experimental working method, based on a full factorial design, the study reveals that the influence of nail dimensions and the overburden pressure on the pull-out load are more significant than that of the degree of saturation. Moreover, the experimental results show that the pull-out behaviour of the GFRP reinforcement is different from the ribbed steel reinforcement, subjected the same testing condition. The differences between the Young’s modulus, the interface properties, and the surface roughness of the bar exhibit the main influence factors.
KEYWORDS: GFRP nail, Pullout test, Soil-nail interaction, and Design of experiments methodology.
