A sensitivity analysis of the parameters contributing to load development in geogrid pullout testing

Masheesh Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, The United States of America

^* Corresponding author: dawie.marx@utexas.edu

Abstract

A dataset of 334 geogrids pullout tests was analysed to identify the soil and geogrid parameters that have the most significant effect on the rate of load development (K) during pullout. K was calculated for a small displacement of the geogrids and also for a larger displacement. Next a surrogate surface was used to model the relationship between K and parameters representing the geogrid, soil and boundary conditions of the test. Data points sampled from the surrogate surface were used as input to a variance based, global sensitivity analysis. K was found to be the most sensitive to the stiffness of the geogrid, the friction angle of the soil, the spacing of the geogrid ribs, the confining stress and the average particle size. Thus, K is sensitive to the same parameters as the stiffness of the soilgeogrid composite (K_SGC). As the K_SGC reflects the stiffening function of a geogrid, the load development during pullout is also indicative of the stiffening function of a geogrid.