Spatial Earth Pressure Analysis of V-Shaped Gully Shoulder Retaining Wall under Translational Mode
Publication: International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 24, Issue 10
Abstract
Mountainous regions are often characterized by the presence of V-shaped gullies, necessitating the construction of retaining structures to support the embankments spanning across these gullies. The gully topography renders conventional two-dimensional soil pressure calculation theory unable to meet the stability requirements for the design of retaining walls (RWs) in mountainous gullies. To address this issue, the sliding bodies of V-shaped gully retaining walls have been identified as high-wall type and low-wall type, and the spatial earth pressure of V-shaped RWs has been determined using the horizontal differential layer method. Combined with numerical simulation, a systematic parametric study is conducted to reveal the impact of the fill-soil internal friction angle, wall–soil contact surface roughness, wall height-to-width ratio, and valley side-slope angle on the active earth pressure acting on the wall. The magnitude of internal friction angle of the fill and the side-bank angle significantly influence the horizontal earth pressure. However, for RWs with finite length along their longitudinal direction, the active earth pressure value at the wall ends is significantly lower than values computed under two-dimensional plane-strain conditions. Moreover, the resultant active force point is located in the range of H/3−H/2 from the wall bottom, where H = wall height, which shows that considering three-dimensional effects is significant.
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Data Availability Statement
All data, models, and codes generated or used during the study appear in the published article.
Acknowledgments
The authors acknowledge the financial support provided by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41772297).
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© 2024 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Dec 13, 2023
Accepted: Apr 15, 2024
Published online: Jul 23, 2024
Published in print: Oct 1, 2024
Discussion open until: Dec 23, 2024
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Analysis (by type)
- Continuum mechanics
- Dynamics (solid mechanics)
- Engineering fundamentals
- Engineering mechanics
- Friction
- Geology
- Geomechanics
- Geomorphology
- Geotechnical engineering
- Models (by type)
- Mountains
- Numerical analysis
- Numerical models
- Pressure (type)
- Retaining structures
- Soil dynamics
- Soil mechanics
- Soil pressure
- Solid mechanics
- Spatial analysis
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