Pull-out experiments with cohesionless and cohesive soils for reinforcement application

The present study is in line with the research program of finding out a characteristic correlation which may exist between surface asperities of geotextile and soil material in pull-out failure of reinforcement application. To simplify the complex surface asperities of geotextile materials, different acrylic plates with embossed concavities on their surface are used as model reinforcing elements in the investigation. Experiments on pull-out frictional behavior of such acrylic plates with both cohesionless and cohesive soils are carried out in laboratory. The various trends of apparent pull-out frictional resistance as obtained with the soil types are discussed. The roughness (concavity size) and soil particle diameter are found playing important roles in determining the pull-out frictional behavior.