A metallic inextensible cubic cogged biaxial grid originated to improve soil reinforcement mechanism

ABSTRACT In this study, cubic cogs were mounted on both surfaces of the conventional biaxial soil-reinforcement grid in order to enhance friction and add a new interlock factor. The upgraded grid is known as the Isometric Cubic Cogged Biaxial Grid (ICCB Grid). The testing programme involves carrying out 19 pull-out tests on steel prototypes representing ICCB grids, biaxial grids, and solid plates. Each prototype was employed to reinforce sand and crushed limestone in their very loose state. The results proved that the ICCB Grid significantly enhanced the soil-reinforcement interaction in terms of pull-out resistance, shear resistance, friction angle, and friction factor. Using the ICCB Grid to reinforce sand and crushed limestone improves the pull-out resistance by 150% and 125%, respectively. Additionally, there were 13.52 and 2.23 increases in the friction angle, respectively. The findings also revealed that the added cogs increased the passive resistance by 50% and 25%, respectively as well.