3D modelling of strip reinforced MSE walls
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RESEARCH PAPER
3D modelling of strip reinforced MSE walls I. P. Damians1,3 • R. J. Bathurst2
•
S. Olivella1,3 • A. Lloret1 • A. Josa1
Received: 1 March 2020 / Accepted: 11 August 2020 Ó Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract This paper reports the results of 3D numerical modelling of a 6-m-high mechanically stabilised earth (MSE) wall constructed with concrete panels and steel or polymeric strip reinforcement. These systems pose numerical challenges as a result of the discontinuous reinforcement arrangement which is not the case for MSE walls constructed with continuous reinforcement layer configurations. Details of the numerical approach including modelling of the reinforcement strips, concrete facing panels and compressible bearing pads between panels are described. Examples of numerical predictions for facing deformations, toe loads due to soil down-drag behind the panels, soil and reinforcement settlements, and reinforcement tensile loads are presented. The influence of reinforcement stiffness is demonstrated by comparing numerical predictions for the same MSE wall with relatively inextensible steel strips and with relatively extensible polymeric strips. Of particular interest are the results showing the disruption of earth pressures along vertical and horizontal planes in the reinforced soil zone as a result of the discontinuous strip inclusions, and the vertical load that accumulates on the reinforcement strips close to the connections due to soil settlement behind the facing. The details of the modelling approach used here and the lessons learned provide a benchmark for future similar lines of investigation and for practitioners, particularly as the computational power of desktop computers continues to increase. Keywords 3D modelling Finite element modelling Mechanically stabilised earth (MSE) walls Polymeric strip reinforcement Soil retaining walls Steel strip reinforcement Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s11440-020-01057-w) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. & R. J. Bathurst [email protected] I. P. Damians [email protected] S. Olivella [email protected] A. Lloret [email protected] A. Josa [email protected] 1
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, School of Civil Engineering, Universitat Polite`cnica de CatalunyaBarcelonaTech (UPC), Barcelona, Spain
2
GeoEngineering Centre at Queen’s-RMC, Civil Engineering Department, Royal Military College of Canada, Kingston, ON K7K 7B4, Canada
3
International Center for Numerical Methods in Engineering (CIMNE), Universitat Polite`cnica de CatalunyaBarcelonaTech (UPC), Barcelona, Spain
1 Introduction Mechanically stabilised earth (MSE) walls constructed with incremental concrete facing panels and discontinuous strip reinforcement elements are a well-established technology. The soil–reinforcement elements most often take the form of steel strips
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