On November 11, 2023, Binusian 2023 Civil Engineering student, Steven Christian succeeded in becoming the Best Paper for Young Members and Student Association (AMM) entitled “Finite Element Modeling of Geocell with Actual Shape vs. Simplified Shapes” at the 12th HATTI National Council Meeting and 27th Annual National Conference on Geotechnical Engineering organized by the Indonesian Society for Geotechnical Engineering (HATTI) at Bidakara Hotel Jakarta.

The paper itself is about geocell. Geocells are 3D geosynthetics that resemble honeycombs. To model geocells accurately, 3D finite element programs are more suitable. However, modeling geocells with the original shape in 3D is quite complicated so it is often simplified. Thus, this study aims to show an easier way to draw geocells, as well as how the simplification of the geocell shape affects the modeling results. Therefore, a plate load test on soil reinforced with geocells was modeled, in which geocells were modeled with original and simplified shapes. The simplified shapes used are rhombus and hexagon. Based on the comparison between the modeling results and the laboratory test results, it was found that the geocell model with the original shape gave the closest results to the laboratory results. Whereas, in the simplified shape there is a deviation of about 3.4 – 17.6% in the rhombus shape and 3.7 – 15.3% in the hexagon shape. However, this shape simplification can cut the numerical calculation time by about 25-90% compared to the original geocell model.

Steven said “I really appreciate the recognition given to me as a young member in the geotechnical field. It is an encouragement for me to improve my knowledge and skills in this field. I am also honored and excited to share this research with seniors and practitioners through the Bright Spark Lecture. I hope this work can be an example for other young geotechnical engineers to continue to innovate in the field of geotechnics.”

Congratulations on such a great achievement!