Deformation Resistance of Prestressed Geosynthetics-Reinforced Soil Wall with a Buffer Layer Subjected to Impact of Rockfall

Abstract

Collapse hazards occur frequently in mountainous areas. Geosynthetics-reinforced soil (GRS) wall, combing the damping characteristics of soil and the tensile properties of reinforcement materials, can effectively resist rockfall impact through its flexible deformation. However, excessive deformation is easy to occur near the impact point of reinforced soil retaining wall subjected to impact loading, resulting in instantaneous instability and long repair time as well as high repair cost of the structure. Therefore, the prestressed GRS wall with buffer layer was proposed in this paper. Four retaining walls with different types and the impactor consist of pendulum device and solid steel ball was designed to study the impact resistance and dynamic stability of the retaining wall. The results show that the cumulative deformation of the wall panel experiences acceleration phase, deceleration phase and stable stage subjected to the impact loading. The application of buffer layer and prestress member can effectively improve the impact resistance and dynamic stability of retaining wall, and further control the deformation of retaining wall under the impact loading, in comparison with ordinary reinforced retaining wall. The peak impact stress of the retaining wall and the responsive strain of the reinforcement increase gradually as the distance between the measure point and the impact point decreases. The research results can provide reference for the design and the application of prestressed GRS wall under the impact of rockfall.