Mechanical Model of Tensile Loading of Geotechnical Reinforcement Materials

To reveal the mechanical behavior and deformation patterns of geotechnical reinforcement materials under tensile loading, a series of tensile tests were conducted on plastic geogrid rib, fiberglass geogrid rib, gabion steel wire, plastic geogrid mesh, fiberglass geogrid mesh, and gabion mesh. The full tensile force-strain relationships of the reinforcement materials were obtained. The failure modes of different geotechnical reinforcement materials were discussed. The standard linear three-element model, the nonlinear three-element model, and the improved Kawabata model were employed to simulate the tensile curves of the various geotechnical reinforcement materials. The main parameters of the tensile models of the geotechnical reinforcement materials were determined. The results showed that a brittle failure occurred in both the plastic geogrid rib and the fiberglass geogrid rib subjected to tensile loading. The gabion steel wire presented obvious elastic-plastic deformation behavior. The tensile resistance of fiberglass geogrid mesh was higher compared to that of plastic geogrid, which was mainly caused by the difference in the cross-sectional areas of these two types of geogrid. Due to a hexagonal mesh structure of gabion mesh, there was a distinct stress adjustment during the tensile process, resulting in a sawtooth fluctuation pattern in tensile curve. Compared to the strip geogrid material, hexagonal-type gabion mesh could withstand higher tensile strain and had greater tensile strength. Brittle failure occurred in both the plastic geogrid rib and the fiberglass geogrid rib when subjected to tensile loading. The gabion steel wire presented obvious elastic-plastic deformation behavior. The standard linear and nonlinear three-element models as well as improved Kawabata model could all well reflect the tensile behavior of geotechnical reinforcement materials before the failure of the material.