Evaluation of Kinematic Constraints Based Method for Reinforced Soil Walls

This paper evaluates a new analysis approach for reinforced soil walls which considers the structural role of the facing. The three component (soil — reinforcement - wall) system is statically indeterminate, and hence cannot be solved by equilibrium equations alone. In the new approach, this indeterminacy is resolved using kinematic constraints on the compatibility between the reinforcement layers and the wall. The resultant system is fully coupled whereby upper reinforcement layers are affected by the behavior of lower layers. The method has a certain advantage over sophisticated analysis methods, such as finite elements, since it requires fewer input parameters. This paper evaluates the capability of the method to reliably predict the values of tensile forces, bending moment, shear forces and displacement along the wall. The evaluation is conducted through a comparison to sophisticated finite different analyses. The method is also compared to design codes, where it is shown that the design codes may be overconservative.