Influence of longitudinal and transverse members on geogrid pullout behavior during deformation

A series of pullout tests were carried out by using a highly extensible geo grid with the different longitudinal member and transverse member ratios to investigate the influence of the longitudinal and transverse members of a highly extensible geogrid on the pullout behavior. From the results, the fo llowing were made clear: the mobilization of bond stress depends on the str ain of the geogrid; the influence zones of longitudinal members become isol ated with the increase of the longitudinal member spacing; the mobilization of transverse member resistance depends on the displacement of the geogrid at the location of that transverse member; and the contribution of longitu dinal members to the pullout force is more significant than that of transve rse members during the deformation stage in the case of the highly extensib le geogrid, since large elongation occurs in thc geogrid, which restricts t he mobilization of the full effect of transverse members. Furthermore, the mobilization mechanisms of the longitudinal member and transverse member ef fects are discussed. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.