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Behaviour of Two-Tiered Geosynthetic-Reinforced Soil Walls

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Abstract

The literature studies and current design methodologies of reinforced soil wall show increases in tensile stresses in reinforcement with increase in height of wall. This results in decrease of spacing between reinforcement and ultimately increases in cost of construction. Alternatively, the reinforced soil wall can be constructed in tiered fashion to improve aesthetic and reduce cost of construction. This paper focuses on the performance of two-tiered-reinforced soil-retaining walls with different offset lengths. A numerical model of geosynthetic-reinforced soil-retaining wall with a concrete-block facing reported in literature is simulated using commercial finite element software ANSYS. The backfill soil is modelled using the Drucker–Prager plasticity model. The concrete facing is simulated as elastic material and reinforcement with non-linear material properties. The results obtained from numerical model are validated with those from physical model studies reported in literature. Using validated model parameters, two-tiered-reinforced soil walls with different offset lengths are simulated. Four models of 0 offset, 1.2-m offset, 2.0-m offset and 3.0-m offset are developed to study the effects of tiered wall. The offset lengths are determined as intermediate offset distance and large setback distance as per FHWA (2010). The walls are studied for horizontal displacement of facing, strain developed in backfill soil and in reinforcement layers. The maximum horizontal displacements of reinforced soil wall decrease with increase in offset length of tiered wall. By considering the strain variation in soil, two deformation zones—shear deformation zone near the facing and compaction zone below the upper tier facing—are identified. The strains in compaction zone of lower tier increase with increase in offset length. The reinforcement strains in top reinforcement layer of lower tier decrease with increase in offset length.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, Jorhat Engineering College, Jorhat, 785007, India

    Arup Bhattacharjee

  2. LEA Associates South Asia Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 110044, India

    Masud Ul Amin

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  1. Arup Bhattacharjee
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  2. Masud Ul Amin
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Correspondence to Arup Bhattacharjee.

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Bhattacharjee, A., Amin, M.U. Behaviour of Two-Tiered Geosynthetic-Reinforced Soil Walls. INAE Lett 4, 91–100 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41403-019-00069-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41403-019-00069-7

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