Load and Resistance Factors for Internal Stability Checks of Mechanically Stabilized Earth Walls
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 138, Issue 8
Abstract
This paper focuses on the development of load and resistance factor design (LRFD) for checks of the internal stability of mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) walls reinforced with steel strips. The internal stability of MSE walls relies on protection against two ultimate limit states (ULSs): pullout and structural failure of reinforcements. This study proposes equations for the resistances and loads that reflect the physical processes involved in the pullout and structural failure ULSs and quantify the uncertainties in these equations. These equations are then used to perform reliability analyses using the first-order reliability method (FORM) for different values of target reliability index to obtain load factors and resistance factors for use together with the equations in design. For a given target reliability index and vehicular load on top of an MSE wall, the resistance factor for pullout was highly dependent on reinforcement depth while that for structural failure was insensitive to changes in the design variables in its ULS equation.
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Acknowledgments
The research presented in this paper was conducted as a part of Joint Transportation Research Program at Purdue University. The writers acknowledge the financial support from the Indiana Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 138 • Issue 8 • August 2012
Pages: 910 - 921
Copyright
© 2012. American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jun 3, 2010
Accepted: Nov 15, 2011
Published online: Nov 17, 2011
Published in print: Aug 1, 2012
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