Paper:
Failure Mechanism and Deformation-Based Design of Narrow Geosynthetic Reinforced Soil Walls
Wen-Yi Hung* , Truong-Nhat-Phuong Pham**, , and Susannah Boer***
*Department of Civil Engineering, National Central University
No.300 Zhongda Road, Zhongli District, Taoyuan 32001, Taiwan
**NT Construction Solutions Pty. Ltd.
Pineland, Australia
Corresponding author
***GHD Pty. Ltd.
Darwin, Australia
In recent years, the working performance of mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) walls has shown their outstanding stability and capacity to accommodate large deformation. The behavior and failure mechanisms of conventional MSE walls have been carefully examined. In cases where space is limited, such as in mountainous regions, in coastal regions, and for road expansion, the conventional MSE wall can be modified by adjusting the length of reinforcement to conform the construction area. For narrow geosynthetic reinforced soil (GRS) wall, the modification and arrangement of reinforcement components, including reinforcement tensile strength, vertical spacing, and aspect ratio, play key roles in the behavior of reinforced earth walls and can also lead to differences in the distribution of lateral earth pressure compared with conventional MSE walls. In this study, a series of geotechnical centrifuge tests are conducted to clarify the failure behaviors, distribution of lateral earth pressure, and deformation progresses of narrow GRS walls. Among the investigated variants, it is verified that improved reinforcement strength leads to a significant decrease in horizontal wall displacement. The relationship among lateral earth pressure, zero-earth-pressure zone, and horizontal displacement can be applied to predict the deformation of a narrow GRS wall.
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