Lateral earth pressure of granular backfills on retaining walls with expanded polystyrene geofoam inclusions under limited surcharge loading

Existing studies have focused on the behavior of the retaining wall equipped with expanded polystyrene(EPS)geofoam inclusions under semi-infinite surcharge loading rather than limited surcharge loading.In this paper,the failure mode and the earth pressure acting on the rigid retaining wall with EPS geofoam inclusions and granular backfills(henceforth referred to as EPS-wall),under limited surcharge loading are investigated through two-and three-dimensional model tests.The testing results show that different from the sliding of almost all the backfill in the EPS-wall under semi-infinite surcharge loading,only an approximately triangular backfill slides in the wall under limited surcharge loading.The distribution of the lateral earth pressure on the EPS-wall under limited surcharge loading is non-linear,and the distribution changes from the increase of the wall depth to the decrease with the increase of the limited surcharge loading.An approach based on the force equilibrium of a differential element is developed to predict the lateral earth pressure behind the EPS-wall subjected to limited surcharge loading,and its performance was fully validated by the three-dimensional model tests.

Protective effect of retaining wall on rock avalanche:A case study of Nayong rock avalanche in China

Rock avalanches are generally difficult to prevent and control due to their high velocities and the extensive destruction they cause.However,barrier structures constructed along the path of a rock avalanche can partially mitigate the magnitudes and consequences of such catastrophic events.We selected a rock avalanche in Nayong County,Guizhou Province,China as a case to study the effect of the location and height of a retaining wall on the dynamic characteristics of rock avalanche by using both actual terrain-based laboratory-model tests and coupled PFC3D-FLAC3D numerical simulations.Our findings demonstrate that a retaining wall can largely block a rock avalanche and its protective efficacy is significantly influenced by the integrity of the retaining wall.Coupled numerical simulation can serve as a powerful tool for analyzing the interaction between a rock avalanche and a retaining wall,facilitating precise observations of its deformation and destruction.The impact-curve characteristics of the retaining wall depend upon whether or not the rock avalanche-induced destruction is taken into account.The location of the retaining wall exerts a greater influence on the outcome compared to the height and materials of the retaining wall,while implementing a stepped retaining-wall pattern in accordance with the terrain demonstrates optimal efficacy in controlling rock avalanche.

Stability Analysis of Landfills Contained by Retaining Walls Using Continuous Stress Method

An analytical method for determining the stresses and deformations of landfills contained by retaining walls is proposed in this paper.In the proposedmethod,the sliding resisting normal and tangential stresses of the retaining wall and the stress field of the sliding body are obtained considering the differential stress equilibrium equations,boundary conditions,and macroscopic forces and moments applied to the system,assuming continuous stresses at the interface between the sliding body and the retaining wall.The solutions to determine stresses and deformations of landfills contained by retaining walls are obtained using the Duncan-Chang and Hooke constitutive models.A case study of a landfill in the Hubei Province in China is used to validate the proposed method.The theoretical stress results for a slope with a retaining wall are compared with FEMresults,and the proposed theoreticalmethod is found appropriate for calculating the stress field of a slope with a retaining wall.

Limit state analysis of rigid retaining structures against seismically induced passive failure in heterogeneous soils

Soils are not necessarily uniform and may present linearly varied or layered characteristics,for example the backfilled soils behind rigid retaining walls.In the presence of large lateral thrust imposed by arch bridge,passive soil failure is possible.A reliable prediction of passive earth pressure for the design of such wall is challenging in complicated soil strata,when adopting the conventional limit analysis method.In order to overcome the challenge for generating a kinematically admissible velocity field and a statically allowable stress field,finite element method is incorporated into limit analysis,forming finiteelement upper-bound(FEUB)and finite-element lower-bound(FELB)methods.Pseudo-static,original and modified pseudo-dynamic approaches are adopted to represent seismic acceleration inputs.After generating feasible velocity and stress fields within discretized elements based on specific criteria,FEUB and FELB formulations of seismic passive earth pressure(coefficient K_(P))can be derived from work rate balance equation and stress equilibrium.Resorting to an interior point algorithm,optimal upper and lower bound solutions are obtained.The proposed FEUB and FELB procedures are well validated by limit equilibrium as well as lower-bound and kinematic analyses.Parametric studies are carried out to investigate the effects of influential factors on seismic K_(P).Notably,true solution of K_(P) is well estimated based on less than 5%difference between FEUB and FELB solutions under such complex scenarios.

A general method to calculate passive earth pressure on rigid retaining wall for all displacement modes

A general analytical method to calculate the passive rigid retaining wall pressure was deduced considering all displacement modes. First, the general displacement mode function was setup, then the hypotheses were made that the lateral passive pressure is linear to the corresponding horizontal displacement and the soil behind retaining wall is composed of a set of springs and ideal rigid plasticity body, the general analytical method was proposed to calculate the passive rigid retaining wall pressure based on Coulomb theory. The analytical results show that the resultant forces of the passive earth pressure are equal to those of Coulomb＇s theory, but the distribution of the passive pressure and the position of the resultant force depend on the passive displacement mode parameter, and the former is a parabolic function of the soil depth. The analytical results are also in good agreement with the experimental ones.

Pseudo-static analysis of cantilever retaining walls using upper bound limit analysis approach

Given the extensive utilization of cantilever retaining walls in construction and development projects,their optimal design and analysis with proper attention to seismic loads is a typical engineering problem.This research presents a new algorithm for pseudo-static analysis of retaining walls employing upper bound method.The algorithm can be utilized to design and check the external and internal stability of the wall based on the proposed mechanism.One of the main features of this algorithm is its ability to determine the critical condition of failure wedges,the minimum safety factor and maximum force acting on the wall,as well as the minimum weight of the wall,simultaneously,by effectively using the multi-objective optimization.The results obtained by the proposed failure mechanisms show that,while using the upper bound limit analysis approach,the active force should be maximized concurrent with optimizing the direction of the plane passing through the back of the heel.The present study also applies the proposed algorithm to determine the critical direction of the earthquake acceleration coefficient.The critical direction of earthquake acceleration coefficient is defined as the direction that maximizes the active force exerted on the wall and minimizes the safety factor for wall stability.The results obtained in this study are in good agreement with those of similar studies carried out based on the limit equilibrium method and finite element analysis.The critical failure mechanisms were determined via optimization with genetic algorithm.

Pseudo-dynamic analysis of overturning stability of retaining wall

A new method was presented to determine the safety factor of wall stability against overturning based on pseudo-dynamic approach. In this time-dependent method, the actual dynamic effect with variation of time and propagation of shear and primary wave velocities through the backfills was considered. Planar failure surface was considered behind the retaining wall. The results were compared with those obtained from Mononobe-Okabe theory. It is found that there is a higher value of safety factor by the present dynamic analysis. The effects of wall inclination, wall friction angle, soil friction angle and horizontal and vertical seismic coefficients on the overturning stability of retaining wall were investigated. The parametric study shows that both horizontal and vertical seismic accelerations have decreasing effect on the overturning stability of retaining wall.

Critical embedment depth of a rigid retaining wall against overturning in unsaturated soils considering intermediate principal stress and strength nonlinearity

The overturning stability is vital for the retaining wall design of foundation pits, where the surrounding soils are usually unsaturated due to water draining. Moreover, the intermediate principal stress does affect the unsaturated soil strength; meanwhile, the relationship between the unsaturated soil strength and matric suction is nonlinear. This work is to present closed-form equations of critical embedment depth for a rigid retaining wall against overturning by means of moment equilibrium. Matric suction is considered to be distributed uniformly and linearly with depth. The unified shear strength formulation for unsaturated soils under the plane strain condition is adopted to characterize the intermediate principal stress effect, and strength nonlinearity is described by a hyperbolic model of suction angle. The result obtained is orderly series solutions rather than one specific answer; thus, it has wide theoretical significance and good applicability. The validity of this present work is demonstrated by comparing it with a lower bound solution. The traditional overturning designs for rigid retaining walls, in which the saturated soil mechanics neglecting matric suction or the unsaturated soil mechanics based on the Mohr-Coulomb criterion are employed, are special cases of the proposed result. Parametric studies about the intermediate principal stress, matric suction and its distributions along with two strength nonlinearity methods on a new defined critical buried coefficient are discussed.

Model Test and Numerical Analysis on Long-Term Mechanical Properties of Stepped Reinforced Retaining Wall

Model tests and numerical analyses of stepped reinforced retaining wall were performed to investigate the effects of rheology of backfill and creep of geogrids on the long-term performance of the structure.The geogrid tensions,soil pressures,wall deformations and foundation pressure were measured during model construction and loading.A visco-elasto-plastic model and an empirical nonlinear visco-elastic model were utilized to simulate the stresses and deformations of geogrid-reinforced earth-retaining wall under long-term loads.By comparing test data with numerical results,it is shown that the foundation pressure distribution is nonlinear,and the lateral constraint of geogrids for backfill can cause a redistribution of foundation pressure.The curve of soil pressure is outside convex at each step initially,and it is close to the distribution for the case of vertical wall subsequently.The variation trend of geogrid tensions at different heights is obtained.Moreover,the failure mechanism and development mode of potential slip surface in retaining wall are proposed.

Mechanical performance of a double-face reinforced retaining wall in an area disturbed by mining

The application of a double-face reinforced retaining wall during road construction can reduce engineering costs, speed road paving and have a good influence on environment. An ABAQUS numerical model of a double-face reinforced retaining wall was built. The influence of surface subsidence induced by mining was considered. A physical model test was also performed in the laboratory on a reinforced retaining wall. The influence of subsidence induced by mining was observed. The numerical results match measurements in the laboratory very well. The vertical pressure on the base of the retaining wall, the horizontal displacement of the wall and the horizontal soil pressure acting on the wall were analyzed. The differential settlement of the reinforced belt and axial forces in the wall were also studied.

Shaking table test of subgrade slope reinforced by gravity retaining wall with geogrids

Gravity retaining wall with geogrids has showed excellent seismic performance from Wenchuan great earthquake.However,seismic damage mechanism of this kind of wall is not sufficiently clear.In view of this,a large shaking table test of the gravity retaining wall with geogrids to reinforce the subgrade slope was carried out,and based on the HilbertHuang transform and the marginal spectrum theory,the energy identification method of the slope dynamic failure mode was studied.The results show that the geogrids can effectively reduce displacement and rotation of the retaining wall,and it can effectively absorb the energy of the ground movement when combined with the surrounding soil.In addition,it also reveals the failure development of the gravity retaining wall with geogrids to reinforce the subgrade slope.The damage started in the deep zone near the geogrids,and then gradually extended to the surface of the subgrade slope and other zones,finally formed a continuous failure surface along the geogrids.The analysis results of the failure mode identified by the Hilbert marginal spectrum are in good consistency with the experimental results,which prove that the Hilbert marginal spectrum can be applied to obtain the seismic damage mechanism of slope.

Development of a monitoring and warning system based on optical fiber sensing technology for masonry retaining walls and trees

Hong Kong has a long history of applying masonry retaining walls to provide horizontal platforms and stabilize man-made slopes.Due to the sub-tropical climate,some masonry retaining walls are colonized by trees.Extreme weather,such as typhoons and heavy rains,may cause rupture or root failure of those trees,thus resulting in instability of the retaining walls.A monitoring and warning system for the movement of masonry retaining walls and sway of trees has been designed with the application of fiber Bragg grating(FBG)sensing technology.The monitoring system is also equipped with a solar power system and 4G data transmission devices.The key functions of the proposed monitoring system include remote sensing and data access,early warning,and real-time data visualization.The setups and working principles of the monitoring systems and related transducers are introduced.The feasibility,accuracy,serviceability and reliability of this monitoring system have been checked by in-site calibration tests and four-month monitoring.Besides,a two-level interface has been developed for data visualization.The monitoring results show that the monitored masonry retaining wall had a reversible movement up to 2.5 mm during the monitoring period.Besides,it is found that the locations of the maximum strain on trees depend on the crown spread of trees.

Study on the FEM design of reinforced earth retaining wall with geogrid

At present,limit equilibrium method is often adopted in the design of reinforced earth retaining wall. Geotechnical engineers home and abroad have done a lot of work to improve the traditional calculation methods in recent years,while there are lots of defects. This paper first identifies the location of failure surface and safety factor through the finite element program of PLAXIS and then analyses the influencing factors of the stability of reinforced earth retaining wall with geogrid. The authors adopt strength reduction FEM (finite element method)in the design and stability analysis of reinforced earth retaining wall and have achieved some satisfying results. Without any assumptions,the new design method can automatically judge the failure mode of reinforced earth retaining wall,consider the influence of axial tensile stiffness of the reinforcement stripe on the stability of retaining wall,identify reasonable distance and length of the reinforcement stripe,and choose suitable parameters of reinforcement stripe,including strength,stiffness and pseudo-friction coefficient which makes the design optimal. It is proved through the calculation examples that this method is more reasonable,reliable and economical in the design of reinforced earth retaining wall.

Upper bound seismic rotational stability analysis of gravity retaining walls considering embedment depth

Stability analysis of gravity retaining wall was currently based on the assumption that the wall had no embedment depth. The effect of earth berm was usually neglected. The present work highlighted the importance of embedment depth when assessing the seismic stability of gravity retaining walls with the pattern of pure rotation. In the framework of upper bound theorem of limit analysis, pseudo-static method was applied into two groups of parallel rigid soil slices methods in order to account for the effect of embedment depth on evaluating the critical acceleration of wall-soil system. The present analytical solution is identical to the results obtained from using limit equilibrium method, and the two methods are based on different theory backgrounds. Parameter analysis indicates that the critical acceleration increases slowly when the ratio of the embedment depth to the total height of the wall is from 0 to 0.15 and increases drastically when the ratio exceeds 0.15.

Settlement patterns of mountainous half-filled and half-cut widened subgrade with retaining wall

The settlement of widened highway subgrade in mountainous area is not only affected by the interaction between new and existing subgrade, but also seriously restricted by the external retaining wall. Based on the practical engineering of half-filled and half-cut widened mountainous highway subgrade with external balance weight retaining wall(BWRW), a sophisticated finite element numerical model is established. The evolution law of subgrade settlement is revealed during the whole process of new subgrade filling and BWRW inclination after construction. The settlement component of subgrade is clarified considering whether the existing pavement continues to be used. The results show that the additional settlement caused by the BWRW inclination after construction cannot be ignored in the widening and reconstruction of mountainous highway subgrade. In addition, pursuant to the comprehensive design of subgrade and pavement, the component of subgrade settlement should be determined according to whether the existing pavement continues to be used, while considering the influence of BWRW inclination after construction. When the existing pavement continues to be used, the settlement of the existing subgrade is caused by the new subgrade filling and the BWRW inclination after construction. On the contrary, the settlement is only caused by the BWRW inclination after construction.

Dynamic earth pressure on rigid retaining walls induced by a neighboring machine foundation,by the meshless local Petrov-Galerkin method

Dynamic earth pressure induced by machine foundations on a neighboring retaining wall is analyzed with emphasis on factors which control the intensity and location of the design forces. The meshless local Petrov-Galerkin (MLPG) method is used to analyze the problem for a variety of retaining wall and machine foundation geometries. The soil medium is assumed to be homogeneous and visco-elastic. The machine foundation is idealized as a harmonic sinusoidal dynamic force often encountered in practice. A number of analyses have been made to reveal the effect of the loading frequency, the location and size of the foundation and the soil shear wave velocity on the distribution and magnitude of the dynamic earth pressure. Results indicate that there is a critical frequency and a critical location for which the passive pressure takes the maxima in the entire duration of the dynamic load.

DISTRIBUTION OF ACTIVE EARTH PRESSURE OF RETAINING WALL WITH WALL MOVEMENT OF ROTATION ABOUT TOP

Based on the Coulomb's theory that the earth pressure against the back of a retaining wall is due to the thrust exerted by the sliding wedge of soil from the back of the wall to a plane which passes through the bottom edge of the wall and has an inclination equal to the angle of θ, the theoretical answers to the unit earth pressure, the resultant earth pressure and the point of application of the resultant earth pressure on a retaining wall were obtained for the wall movement mode of rotation about top. The comparisons were made among the formula presented here, the formula for the wall movement mode of translation, the Coulomb's formula and some experimental observations. It is demonstrated that the magnitudes of the resultant earth pressures for the wall movement mode of rotation about top is equal to that determined by the formula for the wall movement mode of translation and the Coulomb's theory. But the distribution of the earth pressure and the points of application of the resultant earth pressures have significant difference.

Dynamic response law about gravity retaining wall to seismic characteristics and earth fill properties

In order to find the dynamic response laws of retaining walls affected by certain earthquake loads,the influence of the seismic wave characteristics and sub-grade fill parameters(including the foundation surface slope) were focused on,and a series of tests were performed.The results show that the maximum stress of the retaining wall decreases as internal friction angle,foundation slope,filled soil cohesion and the biggest dynamic elastic modulus increase,while it increases with the seismic frequency and seismic input peak dropping.The addition value of dynamics earth pressure increases when seismic frequency and seismic input peak are reduced,while it decreases when the filled soil cohesion and internal friction angle rise.Meanwhile,dynamic elastic modulus and foundation slope have no obvious influences on addition value of dynamics earth pressure.The slope will be instable if the seismic input peak exceeds 0.5g and be disruptive if seismic frequency is larger than 2.5 Hz.The mid-lower parts of retaining walls are in most heavy and obvious response to these factors,which reveals the mechanism of "belly burst" in retaining wall that appears commonly in practical projects.

Active earth pressure acting on retaining wall considering anisotropic seepage effect

This paper presents a general solution for active earth pressure acting on a vertical retaining wall with a drainage system along the soil-structure interface. The backfill has a horizontal surface and is composed of cohesionless and fully saturated sand with anisotropic permeability along the vertical and horizontal directions. The extremely unfavourable seepage flow on the back of the retaining wall due to heavy rainfall or other causes will dramatically increase the active earth pressure acting on the retaining walls, increasing the probability of instability. In this paper, an analytical solution to the Laplace differential governing equation is presented for seepage problems considering anisotropic permeability based on Fourier series expansion method. A good correlation is observed between this and the seepage forces along a planar surface generated via finite element analysis. The active earth pressure is calculated using Coulomb's earth pressure theory based on the calculated pore water pressures. The obtained solutions can be degenerated into Coulomb's formula when no seepage exists in the backfill. A parametric study on the influence of the degree of anisotropy in seepage flow on the distribution of active earth pressure behind the wall is conducted by varying ratios of permeability coefficients in the vertical and horizontal directions,showing that anisotropic seepage flow has a prominent impact on active earth pressure distribution. Other factors such as effective internal friction angle of soils and soil/wall friction conditions are also considered.

Time history of seismic earth pressure response from gravity retaining wall based on energy dissipation

The seismic design of gravity retaining walls is based mostly on the pseudo static method.The seismic earth pressure is assumed to be a constant without considering the wave traveling effect when the seismic wave propagates through the slope.However,under continuous ground motion,the actual earth pressure on the retaining wall varies with time.The present seismic earth pressure calculation method yields results that differ significantly from the actual scenario.Considering this,a slip surface curve was assumed in this study.It is more suitable for engineering practice.In addition,a theoretical calculation model based on energy dissipation was established.The time history of seismic earth pressure response under continuous ground motion was calculated using the equilibrium equation between the external power and the internal energy dissipation power of the sliding soil wedge.It can more effectively reflect the stress scenario of a retaining wall under seismic conditions.To verify the applicability of the proposed approach,a large-scale shaking table test was conducted,and the time history of the seismic earth pressure response obtained from the experiment was compared with the calculation results.The results show that the proposed approach is applicable to the calculation of the time history of seismic earth pressure response of gravity retaining walls.This lays the foundation for the seismic design of retaining structures by using dynamic time history.