Ultimate pullout loads of steel mesh in sand

Laboratory pullout tests on a composite of welded wire grid reinforcement and sand were carried out under different normal pressures using dense sand. The effect of the bend in reinforcement on the pullout resistance is found to exist. The interaction between the two elements of the composite follows a relationship between the ultimate bearing resistance per unit width of the transverse member and the normal pressure. The ultimate bearing resistance failure pattern lies almost between the two already existing bearing capacity mechanisms which are called the general and punching shear failure mechanisms. It is also found that the normal pressure and the required numbers of transverse members follow a relationship for ultimate unit bearing resistance below the tensile strength of longitudinal members of the reinforcement.