The results of laboratory tests performed on specimens of reinforced sands using a unit cell device are presented. The reinforced specimens, representative of unit elements within a geosynthetic-reinforced structure, were subjected to deformation under plane strain loading conditions. Four woven and two nonwoven geotextiles and a steel sheet were used to reinforce two different sands. Reinforcing was placed horizontally at midheight in the soil specimen 100 mm (length) by 200 mm (width) by 200 mm (height). Flexible membranes were used to apply uniform lateral confining pressure and load to the top and bottom of the specimen, and the load induced in the reinforcing, principal stresses, and specimen displacements were measured. The response of the various soil-reinforcing combinations are described. It was found that the increased load supporting capacity of the composite resulted from an increase in effective confining pressure in the soil due to stresses which developed in the reinforcing.
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