Centrifuge Modeling of Geotextile-Reinforced Cohesive Soil Retaining Walls
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical Engineering
Volume 122, Issue 10
Abstract
Twenty-four reduced scale models of vertical and steeply sloping (1 H :6 V ) reinforced soil walls were built using kaolin as the backfill, reinforced with a nonwoven geotextile simulant, and loaded to failure under increasing self-weight in the geotechnical centrifuge. Models were constructed on either firm or rigid foundations, and different lengths of reinforcement were tested. No pullout failures were observed in any models. In vertical walls failure developed entirely within the reinforced zone when L /H≥ 0.75; in the steeply sloped walls this threshold occurred when L /H≥ 0.67. Models on firm foundations showed better performance than identical models built on rigid foundations. A stability analysis using the simplified, two-dimensional limit-equilibrium simplified Bishop method incorporating reinforcement was found to be a good predictor of the behavior of the models based on calculated factors of safety at failure. The development of tension cracks in the backfill as walls underwent prefailure deformations led to stress concentrations in the geosynthetics and should be avoided in practice.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
1.
Alvarez, T. A. (1988). “Centrifuge model testing of geotextile reinforced cohesive soil walls,” MSc thesis, University of Maryland, College Park, Md., 1–184.
2.
Bishop, A. W.(1955). “The use of the slip circle in the stability of slopes.”Géotechnique, London, England, 5(1), 7–17.
3.
Bishop, A. W.(1957). “Contribution to discussion on `The Usk scheme for the water supply of Swansea' by Sheppard and Aylen.”Proc. Inst. of Civ. Engrs., London, England, 7(4), 271.
4.
Bolton, M. D., Choudhury, S. P., and Pang, R. P. L. (1978). “Reinforced earth walls: A centrifuge model study, symposium on earth reinforcement.”ASCE Annu. Convention, ASCE, New York, N.Y., 252-28.
5.
Christopher, B. R., and Holtz, R. D. (1985). “Geotextile engineering manual.”Rep. No. FHWA-TS-86/203, Federal Hwy. Admin., Washington, D.C.
6.
Christopher, B. R. et al. (1990). “Reinforced soil structures, Vol. I, Design and construction guidelines.”Rep. No. FHWA-RD-89-043, Federal Hwy. Admin., Washington, D.C.
7.
Geocomp Corporation. (1992). Reinforced slope stability—RSS reference manual . Geocomp Corp., Boston, Ma.
8.
Goodings, D. J., and Santamarina, J. C.(1989). “Reinforced earth and adjacent soils: Centrifuge modeling study.”J. Geotech. Engrg., ASCE, 115(7), 1021–1025.
9.
Leshchinsky, D. (1992). “Contribution to summary of discussion in proceedings of symposium Recent Case Histories of Permanent Geosynthetic—Reinforced Soil Retaining Walls. ” F. Tatsuoka and D. Leshchinsky, eds., A. A. Balkema, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
10.
Mitchell, J. K., Jaber, M., Shen, C. K., and Hua, Z. K. (1988). “Behavior of reinforced soil walls in centrifuge model tests.”Centrifuge 88, A. A. Balkema, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 259–271.
11.
Porbaha, A. (1994). “Centrifuge modeling of geotextile reinforced cohesive retaining systems,” PhD dissertation, Dept. of Civ. Engrg., Univ. of Maryland, College Park, Md., 1–177.
12.
Porbaha, A., and Goodings, D. J. (1994). “Behavior of geotextile reinforced slopes on weak foundations.”Centrifuge 94, A. A. Balkema, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
13.
Santamarina, J. C. (1984). “Effect of adjacent soils on reinforced soil structures centrifuge model testing,” MSc thesis, Univ. of Maryland, College Park, Md., 1–157.
14.
Suah, P. G. (1989). “Further centrifuge model testing of geotextile reinforced cohesive soil walls,” Msc thesis, Univ. of Maryland, College Park, Md., 1–154.
15.
Wu, J. T. H., Qi, X., Chou, N., Ksouri, I., Helwany, M. B., and Huang, C. (1992). “Comparisons of predictions for Denver walls.”Symp. on Geosynthetic-Reinforced Soil Retaining Walls, A. A. Balkema, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 43–59.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
Copyright © 1996 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Published online: Oct 1, 1996
Published in print: Oct 1996
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.