ABSTRACT
With urban expansion, the need to build in massifs with low support capacity and high deformability is increasingly common. A solution to this geotechnical problem is soil manipulation to improve its performance. In this sense, geosynthetics have been playing a prominent role in replacing conventional reinforcement solutions. The bibliography shows that the use of these materials, particularly in the case of shallow foundations, increases the load capacity and decreases the magnitude of settlements. The present study aims to analyze the technical feasibility of applying reinforcement for laying shallow foundations, with emphasis on the use of geosynthetics, as well as the parameters with the greatest influence on increasing the load capacity and reducing the magnitude of the settlement of the soil- reinforcement. The main parameters studied include: the characteristics of the foundation mass and the reinforcement, the geometry of the foundation and the nature of the loading. From an analytical model, variations of these parameters were simulated, within an acceptable range, seeking to estimate the load capacity based on Terzaghi’s theory. In addition, a sensitivity analysis was carried out using the First-Order Second-Moment. The results make possible to determine under what conditions of stiffness of the foundation and reinforcement the execution of the technique is safely efficient. According to the analysis of the data in reduced models, it can be stated that the reinforcement ensured greater stability, enabling the construction in soils of low resistance.
