Dear Suresh,

Geocell is two types, one is perforation and other is without. Since it is honeycomb structure, high density aggregates to be filled inside the cells upto the thickness of the cell (mostly 100mm height). it works like mat foundation. Load distribution is equal, less chances of differential settlement. Due to the high confinement of the geocell and closed packing the settlement very much reduces.

Additionally provide the geogrid at the base of the geocell, it works like a basal reinforcement that load laterally spread. Hence total vertical settlement will reduce considerably. Rest all comes under design, amount of load comes from superstructure, quality of HDPE (geocell material), height of the cell (thickness of the geocells to be designed), joint connection & connecting material and original clay soil undrained shear strength.

surely it will reduce the settlement at higher level and bearing capacity improves based on the general shear failure model.

Dear Sudheer, Thank you for responding to my query. My query is if we place a raft instead of Geocell filled with aggregate/concrete under a condition where the pressure on the geocell and raft is the same. What would be the settlement? Is both produce almost same settlement, or one is lower and the other is more?

Yes.

Geocell with aggregate /concrete is comparatively flexible with raft alone. Settlement could be more in Geocell case than raft. The stiffness of the material place important role here. Raft stiffness is much higher than the compacted aggregates.