Study of Stress Distribution Characteristics of Reinforced Earth Retaining Walls under Cyclic Loading

Abstract

The stress-distribution angle is an important parameter for the design of retaining walls and foundation beds and has a non-negligible role in the rationality of engineering design. There is a lack of research on stress distribution in reinforced earth-retaining walls under cyclic loading. In order to study the stress distribution characteristics of geogrid-reinforced soil-retaining walls (GRSW) under cyclic loading, the stress distribution characteristics of GRSW under a different number of load cycles were analyzed by field tests, and the effects of the length of reinforcement, the friction coefficient of the reinforcement–soil interface and the modulus of reinforcement on the stress distribution characteristics of GRSW were analyzed by numerical simulation. The results show that, with the increase in the number of load cycles, the vertical dynamic earth pressure shows a noticeable decreasing trend from high to low along the wall height. The vertical dynamic earth pressure increases first and then decreases along the length of reinforcement. When the number of load cycles increases to more than 100,000, the stress-distribution angle of the GRSW does not change much, the upper part remains at 35~79°, and the middle part remains at 47~68°. The influence depth of stress distribution in GRSW is about 1.13 times the wall height. The interfacial friction coefficient of reinforced soil has a superior influence on the stress distribution in GRSW, followed by the length and modulus of reinforcement.