Engineering Geology

Engineering Geology

Seismic Active Earth Pressure of Narrow Geosynthetic-Reinforced Backfill on Rigid Facing

Authors
Fariborz Dehghani
Hadi Shahir
Ali Ghanbari
10.18869/acadpub.jeg.11.3.53
Abstract
In the narrow geosynthetic-reinforced retaining walls a stable rear wall exists in a short distance and so there is no enough space to extend appropriate length of reinforcements. In this case, the probability of overturning of retaining wall increases especially when subjected to earthquake loading. To increase the stability of the wall, reinforcements may be connected to the stable rear surface. Alternative solution is the utilization of full-height cast in-place concrete facing in order to resist the earth pressure by combined actions of reinforcements pullout capacity and facing flexural rigidity. One of the main questions about this type of walls is the portion of earth pressure resisted by the facing. In this study, the seismic earth pressure of narrow geosynthetic-reinforced backfill on rigid facing was evaluated using limit equilibrium approach and horizontal slices method. The critical failure surface was assumed to extend linearly from the wall toe to the rear surface and then moves along the interface of the backfill and rear surface up to the backfill surface. The effects of various parameters such as wall aspect ratio have been investigated. The obtained results show that the applied soil pressure on wall facing will be increased with depth in the upper part of the wall according to the Mononobe-Okabe equation, but its pattern is inversed in the lower part of the wall and it decreases until it reaches to zero at the wall toe. The results of analyses indicate that the attracted soil thrust by the facing increases with lessening of backfill width.
Keywords
Geosynthetic-reinforced soil wall
Narrow backfill
Full-height rigid facing
Seismic earth pressure
Horizontal slices method
1. Rowe R. K., Ho S. K., "Horizontal deformation in reinforced soil walls", Canadian Geotechnical Journal, Vol. 35, No. 2 (1998) 312-327. 2. Shahgholi M., Fakher A., Jones C. J. F. P., "Horizontal slice method of analysis", Geotechnique, Vol. 51, No. 10 (2001) 881-885. 3. El-Emam M. M., Bathurst R. J., "Influence of reinforcement parameters on the seismic response of reduced-scale reinforced soil retaining walls", Geotextiles and Geomembranes, Vol. 25, No. 1 (2007) 33-49. 4. Nouri H., Fakher A., Jones C. J. F. P., "Development of horizontal slices method for seismic stability analysis of reinforced slopes and walls", Geotextiles and Geomembranes, Vol. 24 (2006) 175-187. 5. Nouri H., Fakher A., Jones C. J. F. P., "Evaluating the effects of the magnitude and amplification of pseudo-static acceleration on reinforced soil slopes and walls using the limit equilibrium horizontal slices method", Geotextiles and Geomembranes, Vol. 26, No. 3 (2008) 263-278. 6. Latha G. M., Krishna A. M., "Seismic response of reinforced soil retaining wall models: influence of backfill relative density", Geotextiles and Geomembranes, Vol. 26, No. 4 (2008) 335-349. 7. Yang G., Zhang B., Lv, P., Zhou Q., "Behaviour of geogrid reinforced soil retaining wall with concrete-rigid facing", Geotextiles and Geomembranes, Vol. 27, No. 5 (2009) 350-356. 8. Yang K. H., Kniss K. K., Zornberg J. G., Wright S. G., "Finite element analyses for centrifuge modeling of narrow MSE walls", Proceedings of First Pan American Geosynthetics Conference, GEOAMERICAS 2008, Cancun, Mexico (2008). 9. Vieira C. S., Lopes M. L., Caldeira L. M., "Earth pressure coefficients for design of geosynthetic reinforced soil structures", Geotextiles and Geomembranes, Vol. 29, No. 5 (2011) 491-501. 10. Tatsuoka F., Murata O., Tateyama M., "Permanent geosynthetic-reinforced soil retaining walls used for railway embankments in Japan", Proceedings of the International Symposium on Geosynthetic-Reinforced Soil Retaining Walls, Denver, Colorado, J. T. H., Wu (ed.) (1992) 101-130. 11. Morrison K. F., Harrison F. E., Collin J. G., Dodds A., Arndt B., "Shored Mechanically Stabilized Earth (SMSE) wall systems", Federal Highway Administration, Report No. FHWA-CFL/TD-06-001 (2006). 12. Tatsuoka F., Tateyama M., Murata O., "Earth retaining wall with a short geotextile and a rigid facing", Proceedings of 12th ICSMFE, International Society of Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, Volume 2 (1989) 1311-1314. 13. Murata O., Tateyama M., Tatsuoka F., Nakamura K., Tamura Y., "A reinforcing method for earth retaining walls using short reinforcing members and a continuous rigid facing", Proceedings of Geotechnical Engineering Congress, ASCE Geotechnical Special Publication 27 (1991) 935-946. 14. Woodruff R., "Centrifuge modeling of MSE-shoring composite walls", MSc. Thesis, University of Colorado, Boulder (2003). 15. Leshchinsky D., Hu Y., Han J., "Limited reinforced space in segmental retaining wall", Geotextiles and Geomembranes, Vol. 22, No. 6 (2004) 543-553. 16. Lawson C. R., Yee T. W., "Reinforced soil retaining walls with constrained reinforced fill zones", Proceedings of GeoFrontiers, ASCE Geo-Institute Conference (2005) 2721-2734. 17. Morrison K. F., Harrison F. E., Collin J. G., Anderson S. A., "Full-Scale testing of a shored mechanically-stabilized earth (SMSE) wall employing short reinforcements", ASCE Geotechnical Special Publication 165, Geosynthetics in Reinforcement and Hydraulic Applications (2007) 1-10. 18. Kniss K. K., Wright S., Zornberg J. G., Yang K. H., "Design considerations for MSE retaining walls constructed in confined spaces", Center for Transportation Research (CTR), Report No. 0-5506-1, Austin, Texas (2007). 19. Lee Y. B., Ko H. Y., McCartney J. S., "Deformation response of shored MSE walls under surcharge loading in the centrifuge", Geosynthetics International, Vol. 17, No. 6 (2010).389-402. 20. Yang, K. H., Zornberg J. G., Hung W. Y., Lawson C. R., "Location of failure plane and design considerations for narrow geosynthetic reinforced soil wall systems", Journal of GeoEngineering, Vol. 6, No. 1 (2011) 27-40. 21. Koseki J., "Use of geosynthetics to improve seismic performance of earth structures", Geotextiles and Geomembranes, Vol. 34 (2012) pp.51-68. 22. Tatsuoka F., Tateyama M., Koseki J., Uchimura T., "Geotextile-reinforced soil retaining wall and their seismic bahaviour", In: Proceedings of the 10th Asian Regional Conference on S.M.F.E., Beijing, Vol. 2 (1995) 26-49. 23. Ahmadabadi M., Ghanbari A., "New procedure for active earth pressure calculation in retaining walls with reinforced cohesive-frictional backfill", Geotextiles and Geomembranes, Vol. 27 (2009) 456-463. 24. Horii K., Kishida H., Tateyama M., Tatsuoka F., "Computerized design method for geosynthetic-reinforced soil retaining walls for railway embankments", In: Proceedings of Recent Case Histories of Permanent Geosynthetic-Reinforced Soil Retaining Walls, Tokyo, Japan, Tatsuoka, F., Leshchinsky, D. (eds.) (1994) 205-218. 25. Azad A., Yasrobi S., Pak A., "Seismic active earth pressure distribution behind rigid retaining walls", Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering, Vol. 28, No. 5 (2008) 365-375. 26. Shekarian S., Ghanbari A., Farhadi A., "New seismic parameters in the analysis of retaining walls with reinforced backfill", Geotextiles and Geomembranes, Vol. 26 (2008) 350-356. 27. Ghanbari A., Ahmadabadi M., "Pseudo-dynamic active earth pressure analysis of inclined retaining walls using horizontal slices method", Scientia Iranica, Transaction A: Civil Engineering, Vol. 17, No. 2 (2010) 118-130. 28. Ghanbari A., Taheri M., "An analytical method for calculating active earth pressure in reinforced retaining walls subject to a line surcharge", Geotextiles and Geomembranes, Vol. 34 (2012) 1-10. 29. Janssen H. A., "Versuche über Getreidedruck in Silozellen", Zeitschrift des Verein Deutscher Ingenieure, Vol. 39 (1895) 1045-1049.