Analyzing Reinforcement Loads of Vertical Geosynthetic-Reinforced Soil Walls Considering Toe Restraint
Publication: International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 17, Issue 6
Abstract
Supported by available experimental and numerical findings on the behavior of geosynthetic-reinforced soil (GRS) retaining walls under working stress conditions, an analytical method was proposed to quantify the toe restraint of vertical GRS retaining walls. The lateral earth pressure on the facing is calculated by Coulomb’s theory of active earth pressure, and a polygonal distribution is used to quantify the horizontal connection loads of the reinforcement layers. The toe restraint is quantified through force and moment equilibriums of the facing column. The analytical toe restraint was then incorporated into an analytical method for reinforcement loads of vertical reinforced soil masses. The proposed approach was validated against the results from full-scale and large-scale tests. The approach can be used to compute the reinforcement loads of GRS retaining walls under working stress conditions and with active earth pressure on the facing so that the serviceability of GRS retaining walls can be better analyzed in practice.
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Acknowledgments
This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grants 51178280 and 51379082). The support is gratefully acknowledged.
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Published In
International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 17 • Issue 6 • June 2017
Copyright
© 2016 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Mar 24, 2016
Accepted: Sep 19, 2016
Published online: Nov 14, 2016
Discussion open until: Apr 14, 2017
Published in print: Jun 1, 2017
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