Numerical Study on Geocell Retained Highway Embankment

Abstract:

The sustainability and performance of highway infrastructure are vital issues in the current era of rapid urbanization and civilization. The stability of highway embankments needs spatial precaution to maintain good traffic flow and serviceability performance. The lateral sliding and crack formation on the pavement appear due to a lack of confinement against embankments. Conventional retaining structures like gravity walls and reinforced cement concrete retaining walls absorb plastic strains and dissipate in the form of cracks, leading to failure of the structure. Flexibility needs to be introduced in the structure to maintain its strength and shape during the serviceable period. Less explored geocell-retained structures are a good option to maintain flexibility and stress rearrangement in different layers along the structure's height. This research aims to evaluate the structural efficiency and sustainability of the geocell-retained highway embankments as an alternative approach to conventional rigid retaining walls. In the current study, numerical analysis was performed using the Abaqus 2017 version on the geocell retained wall by considering three different shapes (square, hexagonal, and honeycomb) of geocell fiber with aggregates as infill material. Highway cyclic loading (0.5 Hz) and seismic loading (7.5M Kobe earthquake-0.05 Hz) are analyzed respectively. The horizontal stress, displacement, and crest settlement are considered basic parameters to judge geocell efficiency over conventional retaining structures. Shapes like square geocells perform well compared to hexagonal and honeycomb shapes due to more contact area and uniform all-around lateral confinement against instability. This study found that square-shaped geocells provide superior confinement and stability, minimizing crest settlement (1.5 mm under static loading and 0.5 mm under seismic loading) and enabling efficient stress distribution. The findings suggest that geocell-reinforced systems, especially with square cells, offer a much more cost-effective and flexible solution for enhancing the durability and performance of the highway embankments.

• Periodical: Applied Mechanics and Materials (Volume 929)
• Pages: 49-73
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/p-0HqVap
• Online since: December 2025
• Authors: Pritam Chakraborty, Somnath Paul*, Dipankar Sarkar
• Keywords: Geocell, Highway, Numerical Analysis, Retaining Wall

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