Numerical modeling of geosynthetic reinforced soil retaining walls with different toe restraint conditions

This paper reports numerical modeling of the prototype geosynthetic reinforced soil (GRS) walls corresponding to four centrifuge models that have different toe restraint conditions. The development of the interface stresses and displacements at wall toe during wall construction is investigated to understand how the toe carries load in the GRS walls with a practical toe structure. The numerical results show good agreement with the data from the centrifuge modeling. For the GRS walls with a leveling pad embedded in foundation soil, the shear resistance at the facing block-leveling pad interface acts as the toe resistance to counterbalance a portion of horizontal earth load, while the leveling pad-foundation soil interface play no role in wall performance because the soil passive resistance in front of the leveling pad inhibits the development of the shear stress and displacement on this interface. For the GRS walls with an exposed leveling pad, it is the leveling pad-foundation soil interface that works for carrying the earth load because the wall is more likely to slide along this weaker interface. The contribution of the toe to load capacity depends on the shear strength of the effective toe interface that contributes to the resistance against the earth load.     

Earth pressure coefficients for reinforcement loads of vertical geosynthetic-reinforced soil retaining walls under working stress conditions

Based on the nonlinear elastic theory and stress-dilatancy theory, two earth pressure coefficients were proposed to analyze the reinforcement loads at the potential failure surface of vertical geosynthetic-reinforced soil retaining walls under working stress conditions. The earth pressure coefficients take into account the force equilibrium and compatible deformations between soil and reinforcement, and can be obtained by solving two implicit functions by an iterative or graphic method. The effects of backfill compaction and facing restriction are taken into account in the earth pressure coefficients by two additional stress factors, which have been derived analytically using straightforward approaches. To validate the effectiveness of the proposed methods, comparisons were made with the results from large scale tests and numerical simulations. It was demonstrated that the reinforcement loads predicted by the proposed methods were in good agreement with the experimental or numerical results.     

不同墙趾约束条件下模块式加筋土挡墙离心模型试验

开展了墙趾正常约束、仅对模块–基座界面作光滑处理、仅对基座–地基界面作光滑处理,以及对基座–地基界面作光滑处理且将基座前方土体挖除这4组不同墙趾约束条件的模块式加筋土挡墙离心模型试验,以研究工作应力下墙趾约束条件对挡墙内部稳定性的影响。研究结果表明,墙趾约束条件对模块式加筋土挡墙内部稳定性影响显著;对模块–基座界面作光滑处理的挡墙,其底层模块沿该界面滑移,挡墙中下部的墙面水平位移和筋材应变明显增大,筋材连接力沿墙高呈三角形分布;对基座–地基界面作光滑处理的挡墙,基座前方地基土仍可给基座提供足够的墙趾约束作用,挡墙内部稳定性同墙趾正常约束情况;对于基座–地基界面作光滑处理后又将基座前方土体挖除这种模拟墙趾受到冲刷的挡墙,其基座沿该界面滑移,挡墙中下部的墙面水平位移和筋材应变显著增大,筋材连接力接近极限状态AASHTO法计算的筋材最大拉力,但挡墙仍能保持稳定;在墙趾可能受到冲刷的极端情况下,挡墙在设计上不应考虑墙趾的约束作用,而对于正常服役状态的挡墙,可采用考虑墙趾约束作用的K-刚度法进行挡墙内部稳定性的计算。     

Analyzing the influence of facing batter on reinforcement loads of reinforced soil walls under working stress conditions

The level of reinforcement loads in a reinforced soil retaining wall is important to its satisfactory operation under working stress conditions since it basically determines the wall deformation. Consequently, proper estimation of the reinforcement load is a necessary step in the service limit-state design of this type of earth retaining structures. In this study, a force equilibrium approach is proposed to quantify the influence of facing batter on the reinforcement loads of reinforced soil walls under working stress conditions. The approach is then combined with a nonlinear elastic approach for GRS walls without batter to estimate the reinforcement loads neglecting toe restraint. The approximate average mobilized soil strength in the retaining wall is employed in the force equilibrium analysis. The predictions of reinforcement loads by the proposed method were compared to the experimental results from four large-scale tests. It is shown that the proposed semianalytical approach has the capacity to reproduce the reinforcement loads with acceptable accuracy. Some remaining issues are also pinpointed.     

Study on seismic stability and performance of reinforced soil walls using shaking table tests

The paper reports a 1 g shaking table test that was carried out on a reinforced soil wall with an objective to study the acceleration amplification in the backfill, and phase differences between dynamic responses of the reinforced and retained zones. Results of the study show that including the observed larger acceleration amplification in the upper half of the wall, and the phase difference between maximum lateral earth pressure and inertial load in the backfill in the analysis would lead to more accurate predictions of: (1) the wall response relative to predicted reinforcement load, (2) elevations of line of action for both the inertial and lateral earth forces in the backfill, and (3) wall deformations, as compared to pseudo-static methods of analysis.     

DIA of centrifuge model tests on geogrid reinforced soil walls with low-permeable backfills subjected to rainfall

Geogrid reinforced soil walls (GRSWs) constructed using low-permeable backfills often experience failures when subjected to rainfall. The objective of this paper is to employ centrifuge modelling to investigate the effect of geogrid types on the performance of GRSW models constructed with low-permeable backfill, when subjected to rainfall intensity of 10 mm/h. A 4.5 m radius large beam centrifuge facility was used, and rainfall was simulated using a custom-designed rainfall simulator at 40 gravities. Digital Image Analysis (DIA) was employed to understand the deformation behaviour of GRSWs with low stiffness geogrid layers with and without drainage provision subjected to rainfall. Additionally, the effect of varying stiffness of geogrid reinforcement layers across the height of GRSW was also investigated. The interpretation of DIA helped to quantify displacement vector fields, face movements, surface settlement profiles and geogrid strain distribution with depth. Irrespective of drainage provision, GRSWs reinforced with low stiffness geogrid layers experienced a catastrophic failure at the onset of rainfall. However, GRSW reinforced with geogrid layers of varying stiffness was observed to perform well. This study demonstrates the effective use of DIA of GRSWs subjected to rainfall along with centrifuge-based physical model testing.     

Centrifuge and numerical model studies on the behaviour of geogrid reinforced soil walls with marginal backfills with and without geocomposite layers

The aim of this paper is to study the effect of geocomposite layers as internal drainage system on the behaviour of geogrid reinforced soil walls with marginal backfills using centrifuge and numerical modelling. A series of centrifuge model tests were carried out using a 4.5 m radius beam centrifuge facility available at IIT Bombay. A seepage condition was imposed to all models to simulate rising ground water condition. Displacement and pore water pressure transducers were used to monitor the performance of all centrifuge models. A geogrid reinforced soil wall without any geocomposite layer experienced catastrophic failure soon after applying seepage due to the development of excess pore water pressure within the reinforced soil zone of the wall. In comparison, reinforced soil wall with two geocomposite layers at the bottom portion of the wall was found to have a good performance at the onset of seepage and by embedding four geocomposite layers up to the mid-height of the wall from bottom as a result of lowering phreatic surface much more effectively. For analysing further the observed behaviour of centrifuge model tests, stability and seepage analysis were conducted using SLOPE/W and SEEP/W software packages. A good agreement was found between the results of numerical analysis and observation made in centrifuge tests. The effect of number of geocomposite layers as well as its transmissivity was further analysed using parametric study. The results of parametric study revealed that the number of geocomposite layers plays a main role on the good performance of the geogrid reinforced soil walls with marginal backfill.     

Dynamic centrifuge model tests and material point method analysis of the impact force of a sliding soil mass caused by earthquake-induced slope failure

Dynamic centrifuge model tests and associated analyses are carried out to develop a procedure for simulating the slope failure process during earthquakes and to evaluate the force of a sliding soil mass impacting a structure. This impact force is successfully measured in the dynamic centrifuge model tests using a slope height of 50 m in the prototype scale. The results of a pseudo-static limit equilibrium analysis, assuming a circular failure plane, show that a stability analysis can be an effective tool for evaluating the critical acceleration under which the slope failure starts, although it is not applicable for evaluating the runout distance or the impact force of the sliding soil mass to the structure. Therefore, an attempt is also made in this study to examine the applicability of empirical equations for evaluating the impact force by comparing the evaluated impact force using Hertz’s equation and an empirical equation based on fluid mechanics with the measured ones. The comparison reveals that these simple equations would not be able to estimate the impact force well, even though parameter setting is required for applying the equations. On the other hand, it is also found from a relevant analysis that the material point method (MPM) is an effective tool for simulating the failure behavior of a slope and for evaluating the impact force of a sliding soil mass induced by a slope failure.