Characterization and Modeling of Reinforced Earth Structures

The aim of this study is to characterize soil/reinforcement interaction in reinforced earth structures. The study showed that the internal behavior of this type of structure depends on a number of factors, including the engineering backfill, the reinforcement and the soil/reinforcement interaction. The study also showed that the soil-reinforcement interaction phenomenon is a fairly complex mechanism that depends on the applied load, the geometry of the structure, the characteristics of the soil and a set of parameters characterizing the nailing: density, number and length of reinforcements, inclination of the reinforcements in relation to the sliding surface, mechanical characteristics of the reinforcements and, in particular, the relative stiffness of the reinforcements and the soil. The results showed that the tensile forces developed in the reinforcement are not entirely reversible, and that the soil at the interface undergoes permanent deformation, leading to the appearance of irreversible tensile forces in the reinforcement.

Improved Simulation Method for Soil-Geogrid Interaction of Reinforced Earth Structure in FEM

The interaction between geogrid and soil is crucial for the stability of geogrid-reinforced earth structure. In finite element （FE） analysis, geogrids are usually assumed as beam or truss elements, and the interaction between geogrid and soil is considered as Coulomb friction resistance, which cannot reflect the true stress and displacement developed in the reinlbrcement. And the traditional Lagrangian elements used to simulate soil always become highly distorted and lose accuracy in high-stress blocks. An improved geogrid model that can produce shear resistance and passive resistance and a soil model using the Eulerian technique, in combination with the coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian （CEL） method, are used to analyze the interaction between geogrid and soil of reinforced foundation test in ABAQUS. The stress in the backfill, resistance of geogrid, and settlement of foundation were computed and the results of analysis agree well with the experimental results. This simulation method is of referential value for FE analysis of reinforced earth structure.

Field Measurements and Pullout Tests of Reinforced Earth Retaining Wall

In this paper, field measurements and pullout tests of a new type of reinforced earth retaining wall, which is reinforced by trapezoid concrete blocks connected by steel bar, are described. Field measurements included settlements of the earth fill, tensile forces in the ties and earth pressures on the facing panels during the construction and at completion. Based on the measurements, the following statements can be made: (1) the tensile forces in the ties increased with the height of backfill above the tie and there is a tensile force crest in most ties; (2) at completion, the measured earth pressures along the wall face were between the values of the active earth pressures and the pressures at rest; (3) larger settlements occurred near the face of the wall where a zone of drainage sand and gravel was not compacted properly and smaller settlements occurred in the well-compacted backfill. The results of field pullout tests indicated that the magnitudes of pullout resistances as well as tensile forces induced in the ties were strongly influenced by the relative displacements between the ties and the backfill, and pullout resistances increased with the height of backfill above the ties and the length of ties.

Time-History Dynamic Characteristics of Reinforced Soil-Retaining Walls

Given the complexities of reinforced soil materials’constitutive relationships,this paper compares reinforced soil composite materials to a sliding structure between steel bars and soil and proposes a reinforced soil constitutive model that takes this sliding into account.A finite element dynamic time history calculation software for composite response analysis was created using the Fortran programming language,and time history analysis was performed on reinforced soil retaining walls and gravity retaining walls.The vibration time histories of reinforced soil retaining walls and gravity retaining walls were computed,and the dynamic reactions of the two types of retaining walls to vibration were compared and studied.The dynamic performance of reinforced earth retaining walls was evaluated.

Soil spatial variability impact on the behavior of a reinforced earth wall

This article presents the soil spatial variability effect on the performance of a reinforced earth wall.The serviceability limit state is considered in the analysis.Both cases of isotropic and anisotropic non-normal random fields are implemented for the soil properties.The K arhunen-Loeve expansion method is used for the discretization of the random field.Numerical finite difference models are considered as deterministic models.The Monte Carlo simulation technique is used to obtain the deformation response variability of the reinforced soil retaining wall.The influences of the spatial variability response of the geotechnical system in terms of horizontal facing displacement is presented and discussed.The results obtained show that the spatial variability has an important influence on the facing horizontal displacement as well as on the failure probability.

Interaction analysis of back-to-back mechanically stabilized earth walls

Back-to-back mechanically stabilized earth walls （BBMSEWs） are encountered in bridge approaches, ramp ways, rockfall protection systems, earth dams, levees and noise barriers. However, available design guidelines for BBMSEWs are limited and not applicable to numerical modeling when back-to-back walls interact with each other. The objective of this paper is to investigate, using PLAXIS code, the effects of the reduction in the distance between BBMSEW, the reinforcement length, the quality of backfill material and the connection of reinforcements in the middle, when the back-to-back walls are close. The results indicate that each of the BBMSEWs behaves independently if the width of the embankment between mechanically stabilized earth walls is greater than that of the active zone. This is in good agreement with the result of FHWA design guideline. However, the results show that the FHWA design guideline underestimates the lateral earth pressure when back-to-back walls interact with each other. Moreover, for closer BBMSEWs, FHWA design guideline strongly overestimates the maximum tensile force in the reinforcement. The investigation of the quality of backfill material shows that the minor increase in embankment cohesion can lead to significant reductions in both the lateral earth pressure and the maximum tensile force in geosynthetic. When the distance between the two earth walls is close to zero, the connection of reinforcement between back-to-back walls significantly improves the factor of safety.

Effect of earth reinforcement,soil properties and wall properties on bridge MSE walls

Mechanically stabilized earth(MSE)retaining walls are popular for highway bridge structures.They have precast concrete panels attached to earth reinforcement.The panels are designed to have some lateral movement.However,in some cases,excessive movement and even complete dislocation of the panels have been observed.In this study,3-D numerical modeling involving an existing MSE wall was undertaken to investigate various wall parameters.The effects of pore pressure,soil cohesion,earth reinforcement type and length,breakage/slippage of reinforcement and concrete strength,were examined.Results showed that the wall movement is affected by soil pore pressure and reinforcement integrity and length,and unaffected by concrete strength.Soil cohesion has a minor effect,while the movement increased by 13–20 mm for flexible geogrid reinforced walls compared with the steel grid walls.The steel grid stresses were below yielding,while the geogrid experienced significant stresses without rupture.Geogrid reinforcement may be used taking account of slippage resistance and wall movement.If steel grid is used,non-cohesive soil is recommended to minimize corrosion.Proper soil drainage is important for control of pore pressure.