Numerical study of eps geofoam embankment

Abstract

Gedfoam is essentially multi-functional, which allows it useful to use in a wide-ranging of applications. It provides special advantages for construction on slope stabilization, retaining walls, and soft ground as material to form a lightweight embankment. However, the performance of the geofoam embankment is needed to investigate due to the geotechnical properties of geofoam are significantly affected by its constituents. A wide range of properties including the unit weight and the compressive strength has been noticed based on the variation in its ingredient proportions and the testing methods. In order to improve the understanding of the behavior of geofoam, this study conducted several numerical calculations based on the finite element method to reproduce the geofoam embankment. Several factors are considered including the influences of the interface between geofoam blocks, the top load, and the value of Young's modulus in order to estimate the settlement and vertical stress. The results obtained from this numerical study are the basis for further studies, notably in the cases of geofoam combined with other geosynthetic materials.