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Due to its complex honeycomb structure, the numerical modeling of the geocell has always been a big challenge. Generally, the equivalent composite approach is used to model the geocells. In the equivalent composite approach, the geocell–soil composite is treated as the soil layer with improved strength and stiffness values. Though this approach is very simple, it is unrealistic to model the geocells as the soil layer. This paper presents a more realistic approach of modeling the geocells in three-dimensional (3D) framework by considering the actual curvature of the geocell pocket. A square footing resting on geocell reinforced soft clay bed was modeled using the “fast Lagrangian analysis of continua in 3D” (FLAC^3D) finite difference package. Three different material models, namely modified Cam-clay, Mohr–Coulomb, and linear elastic were used to simulate the behaviour of foundation soil, infill soil and the …