Numerical Analysis of MSE Wall Using Finite Element and Limit Equilibrium Methods
01 Jan 2019-pp 199-205
TL;DR: In this article, the study of stability and wall movement of an existing MSE wall constructed on a major state highway in central Texas, using a finite element (FE) analysis and limit equilibrium (LE) slope stability analysis program GEO5 2016.
Abstract: Mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) retaining walls are the most suitable design alternatives to the conventional retaining walls due to their simple, rapid, and cost-effective construction, reduced right-of-way acquisition, etc.; hence, the MSE walls are used in many central, state, and private sector projects. But the design and analysis is a challenging task for geotechnical engineers. This paper deals with the study of stability and wall movement of a existing MSE wall constructed on a major state highway in central Texas, using a finite element (FE) analysis and limit equilibrium (LE) slope stability analysis program GEO5 2016. The detailed analyses for both internal and external stabilities were obtained from the finite element and limit equilibrium analysis, with a critical failure surfaces and the wall movement of a MSE wall. The factors of safety obtained from both analyses were compared. The study shows that the factors of safety obtained from finite element and the limit equilibrium analysis, for a given problem, match in an acceptable range with a different critical failure surfaces. Also, this paper deals with the effect of backfill soil and reinforcements on stability and excessive movements of MSE wall.
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17 Mar 2022
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01 Jun 2022-ASCE-ASME Journal of Risk and Uncertainty in Engineering Systems, Part A: Civil Engineering
TL;DR: In this article , a study of the system reliability of mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) walls by considering all four external failure modes: excessive eccentricity, lateral sliding, insufficient bearing capacity, and deep-seated instability is presented.
Abstract: This paper presents a study of the system reliability of mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) walls by considering all four external failure modes: excessive eccentricity, lateral sliding, insufficient bearing capacity, and deep-seated instability. The focus of this study is (1) to quantify the correlation between any two failure modes, (2) to statistically examine the dependency between any two failure modes, (3) to estimate the system probability of failure using both Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) and formula of union, and (4) to validate the probability bounds of system reliability. Based on MCS, the probabilities of the intersections and unions of various combinations of failure modes are evaluated. The results from this study point to the importance of incorporating all failure modes in a series system of MSE walls and reveal the statistical correlation and independence among different failure modes.
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TL;DR: In this paper, a mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) wall is modelled from two points of view: serviceability limit state (SLS) and ultimate limit state "ULS".
82 citations
TL;DR: A parametric study was conducted to identify the effects of soil reinforcement on horizontal movement at varied wall heights and backfill conditions, and reinforcement length and stiffness were identified as influential factors for the horizontal displacement of MSE walls at a specific height.
Abstract: Mechanically stabilized earth(MSE) walls offer simpleconstructiontechniques,pleasing aesthetics,and cost-effectivesolutions as an alternative to conventional gravity walls. However, design and construction should be carefully evaluated to achieve satisfactory perfor- mance of the wall. A case study is presented on a MSE wall located on State Highway 342 in Lancaster, Texas. The horizontal movement of the MSE wall was between 300 and 450 mm within 5 years of construction. A forensic investigation was performed to determine the causes of the excessive movement. It was identified that inadequate reinforcement length was one of the contributing factors that caused horizontal displacement of the MSE wall. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of soil reinforcement on excessive movement of the MSE wall. As a part of the forensic investigation, two inclinometers were installed at the site to monitor any additional movement of the MSE wall. The inclinometer results suggested that the wall continued to move at an average rate of 4.5 mm/month during the investigation period. A finite-element (FE) program was used to simulate horizontal displacement and stability of the MSE wall. It was observed that the numerical modeling results were in good agreement with inclinometer results. A parametric study was conducted to identify the effects of soil reinforcement on horizontal movement at varied wall heights and backfill conditions. Numerical analyses results indicated that the effect of reinforcement stiffness was not significant at a wall height of 4 m compared with 8 and 12 m. The wall movement varied from 74 to 29 mm for an increase in reinforcement stiffness from 250 to 42,000kN= ma t 1:0H reinforcement length. The variations in displacement with reinforcementlengthssuggestedthatsubstantialreductionindisplacementoccurredforanincreaseinlength-height(L=H)ratiofrom0.5to0.7. FEmodelingresultswereusedforsensitivityanalysisemployingastatisticalanalysisprogram.Basedontheanalyses,reinforcementlengthand stiffness wereidentified as influential factors for thehorizontal displacement of MSE walls at a specific height.DOI:10.1061/(ASCE)GM.1943- 5622.0000297. © 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.
37 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a full-scale field study was conducted to investigate the behavior of shafts within the reinforced zones of MSE wall, subjected to lateral loads, and three-dimensional numerical analyses were performed prior to the construction of this test wall to guide its design and after the field test using the actual material properties (i.e., Class-C prediction).
33 citations
07 Mar 2008
TL;DR: In this paper, the geotechnical profession will find something interesting and useful in this paper, which is a good resource for anyone working in the field of geo-engineering.
Abstract: Everyone working in the geotechnical profession will find something interesting and useful herein.
24 citations
01 Aug 2002
TL;DR: In this paper, the pullout capacity of mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) walls is investigated for different soil types (clean sand, 5, 10, 15 and 35% silty sand), overburden pressures (30, 100, and 200 kPa), and scale and permeability effects in the dissipation of excess pore pressures.
Abstract: The current design of mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) walls, which is based on limit state analysis, does not apply to undrained conditions. Laboratory and numerical pullout tests are performed to determine the relation between drained and undrained pullout capacities for different soil types (clean sand, 5, 10, 15 and 35% silty sand), overburden pressures (30, 100, and 200 kPa), and scale and permeability effects in the dissipation of excess pore pressures. The results of the pullout tests show that both drained and undrained pullout capacities change as silt content changes since the pullout capacity increases as the internal friction angle of the soil increases. It is also observed that the pullout capacity increases as the overburden pressure increases. Undrained conditions significantly reduce the pullout capacity as much as 50%. This is caused by the generation of excess pore pressures in the soil under rapid loading which decrease the effective stress at the sol-reinforcement interface. The magnitude of the pullout reduction is related to the permeability of the soil since for large permeabilities the dissipation of excess pore pressures is very rapid and no reduction in pullout is produced; in contrast for low permeabilities the dissipation of excess pore pressures is slower than the rate of pullout and thus a reduction occurs. This is confirmed by the experiments that show no reduction in pullout capacity for clean sand, and a large reduction for silty sands. The ratio of undrained to drained pullout capacity changes with silt content and overburden pressure; for 100 and 200 kPa overburden pressure, the ratio is 1.0 for clean sand, 0.67-0.69 for 5% silty sand, 0.77-0.78 for 10%, 0.72-0.73 for 15%, and 0.57-0.59 for 35% silty sand. For 30 kPa overburden pressure, the ratio is 1.0 for clean sand, 0.5 for 5% silty sand, 0.67 for 10%, 0.78 for 15%, and 0.72 for 35% silty sand. It is observed in the numerical analyses that the dissipation of pore pressures is very rapid for permeabilities larger than 0.01 cm/sec, and significantly slow for permeabilities smaller than 0.001 cm/sec. Scale effects are extremely important since as the length of the reinforcement increases the time for pore pressures to dissipate increases.
9 citations