Bearing capacity and settlement behavior of square footing on coir geocell–reinforced sand under concentric and eccentric loading
摘要
Shallow foundations on weak or marginal soils require reinforcement systems that increase the bearing capacity while limiting settlement and rotation under realistic loading states. Natural fiber geocells have gained importance in sustainable geotechnics because cellular confinement can be combined with biodegradable reinforcement. The response of square footings on coir geocell-reinforced sand under eccentric loading remains insufficiently established after geometric optimization of the reinforcement layer. This study aims to quantify the bearing capacity, settlement, heave, stiffness, and tilt responses of square footings on coir geocell-reinforced sand under concentric and eccentric loading. The laboratory model plate load tests were conducted in two phases. The embedment depth, width, and height of the coir geocells were varied under concentric loading to identify the optimum configuration, after which the optimized system was tested at