• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.81-93
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• 2024

In Korea, numerous large-scale infrastructure construction projects and housing site developments are being undertaken. However, due to limited land availability, sourcing high-quality backfill materials that meet the standards for railroad and road embankment compaction and mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) retaining wall construction poses significant challenges. Concurrently, there has been an increase in structural failures of many MSE retaining walls, attributed primarily to reduced bearing capacity and impaired drainage performance, resulting from inadequate backfill compaction. This study aimed to analyze the structural performance and safety of an MSE retaining wall using recycled soil as backfill. We conducted small-scale model tests utilizing 3D printing technology combined with two-dimensional numerical analysis. The study quantitatively evaluated the MSE retaining wall's performance concerning the recycled soil mixing ratio and reinforcement installation methods. Furthermore, the utility of 3D printing was confirmed through the production of an experimental wall designed to facilitate easy reinforcement attachment, mirroring the conditions of actual MSE retaining wall construction.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 1999.10a
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• pp.473-480
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• 1999

This paper presents the results of a parametric study on the behavior of mechanically stabilized earth retaining wall. It has been recognized that the currently available design guidelines, which is base on the limit equilibrium approach, cannot properly account the interaction effect between the components, construction sequence, and foundation settlement which may impose a significant influence on the wall behavior. A parametric study using finite element analysis was performed to investigate the behavior of MSE wall under different construction conditions and the applicability of the current design approach. In the parametric analysis, the effects of the construction sequence, the surcharge, and the foundation stiffness were studied and a detailed finite element modeling for various components of the system were employed. The results, such as wall displacement and earth pressure distributions, reinforcement forces, vertical stress distribution were then thoroughly analyzed to investigate the effect of construction details on the wall behavior.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.329-341
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• 2024

Retaining structures are one of the most important elements in the stabilization of excavations and slopes in various engineering projects. Mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) walls are widely used as retaining structures due to their flexibility, easy and economical construction. These benefits are especially prominent for projects built on soft and weak foundation soils, which have relatively low resistance and high compressibility. For high retaining walls on weak foundations, conventional design methods are not cost-effective. Therefore, two alternative solutions for different foundation weakness are proposed in this research: optimized multi-tiered MSE walls and single tier wall with foundation improvement. The cost optimization considers both the construction components and the land price. The results show that the optimal solution depends on several factors, including the foundation strength and more importantly, the land price. For low land price, the optimized multi-tiered wall is more economical, while for high land price (urban areas), the foundation improvement is preferable. As the foundation strength decreases, the foundation improvement becomes inevitable.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.36 no.12
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• pp.69-76
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• 2020

Since the mechanically stabilized earth walls have a form of retaining wall compatible with a narrow section, the geogrid overlaps according to the separation distance between the walls. There is a problem that the overall behavior may occur in the state of being integrated with the stress change due to the interaction of the geogrid. Therefore, a careful approach is required at the design stage, but there are currently no design criteria or guidelines in Korea. This study investigated the optimal reinforcement length ratio according to the retaining wall width to height ratio (width to height ratio, Wb/H) for these back-to-back mechanically stabilized earth walls. Retaining wall width ratio is 1.1H, 1.4H, 1.7H, 2.0H for Case II of the FHWA design standard, and the height is 3.0 m, 5.0 m, 7.0 m, and 10.0 m, which are most commonly applied. Through numerical analysis, the appropriateness of the FHWA design standard and the optimal reinforcement length ratio according to the height of the retaining wall and the width of the retaining wall were proposed.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2001.10a
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• pp.337-344
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• 2001

The application of mechanically stabilized earth wall(MSEW) with segmental front panel has been increasing in highway construction due to its cost-effectiveness. However, some failures during construction have been reported and many field engineers are reluctant to select this method for important structure. One of the main reasons may be that there is no moderate specification for design and construction of MSEW yet. This paper discussed the main results of analysis on a case of block-type segmental retaining wall in highway construction. Based on the results, some recommendations on design and construction method of MSEW are presented.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.277-293
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• 2024

Shored Mechanically Stabilized Earth (SMSE) walls are types of soil retaining structures that increase soil stability under static and dynamic loads. The damage caused by an earthquake can be determined by evaluating the probabilistic seismic response of SMSE walls. This study aimed to assess the seismic performance of SMSE walls and provide fragility curves for evaluating failure levels. The generated fragility curves can help to improve the seismic performance of these walls through assessing and controlling variables like backfill surface settlement, lateral deformation of facing, and permanent relocation of the wall. A parametric study was performed based on a non-linear elastoplastic constitutive model known as the hardening soil model with small-strain stiffness, HSsmall. The analyses were conducted using PLAXIS 2D, a Finite Element Method (FEM) program, under plane-strain conditions to study the effect of the number of geogrid layers and the axial stiffness of geogrids on the performance of SMSE walls. In this study, three areas of damage (minor, moderate, and severe) were observed and, in all cases, the wall has not completely entered the stage of destruction. For the base model (Model A), at the highest ground acceleration coefficient (1 g), in the moderate damage state, the fragility probability was 76%. These values were 62%, and 54%, respectively, by increasing the number of geogrids (Model B) and increasing the geogrid stiffness (Model C). Meanwhile, the fragility values were 99%, 98%, and 97%, respectively in the case of minor damage. Notably, the probability of complete destruction was zero percent in all models.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.83-92
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• 2017

This paper deals with numerical analysis of behavior of curved mechanically stabilized earth(MSE) walls with geosynthetics reinforcement. Unlike typical concrete retaining walls, MSE wall enables securing stability of higher walls without being constrained by backfill height and is currently and widely used to create spaces for industrial and residential complexes. The design of MSE walls is carried out by checking external stability, similarly to the external checks of conventional retaining wall. In addition, internal stability check is mandatory. Typical stability check based on numerical analysis is done assuming 2-dimensional condition (plane strain condition). However, according to the former studies of 3-dimensional MSE wall, the most weakest part of a curved geosynthetic MSE wall is reported as the convex location, which is also identified from the studies of the laboratory model tests and field monitoring. In order to understand the behaviour of the convex location of the MSE wall, 2-dimensional analysis clearly reveals its limitation. Furthermore, laboratory model tests and field monitoring also have restriction in recognizing their behaviour and failure mechanism. In this study, 3-dimensional numerical analysis was performed to figure out the behaviour of the curved part of the geosynthetic reinforced wall, and the results of the straight-line and curved part in the numerical analysis were compared and analysed. In addition, the behaviour characteristics at each condition were compared by considering the overburden load and relative density of backfill.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.10 no.6
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• pp.757-774
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• 2016

Soils are usually weak in tension therefore different materials such as geosynthetics are used to address this inadequacy. Worldwide annual consumption of geosynthetics is close to $1000million\;m^2$, and the value of these materials is probably close to US$1500 million. Since the total cost of the construction is at least four or five times the cost of the geosynthetic itself, the impact of these materials on civil engineering construction is very large indeed. Nevertheless, there are several significant problems associated with geosynthetics, such as creep, low modulus of elasticity, and susceptibility to aggressive environment. Carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) was introduced over two decades ago in the field of structural engineering that can also be used in geotechnical engineering. CFRP has all the benefits associated with geosynthetics and it boasts higher strength, higher modulus, no significant creep and reliability in aggressive environments. In this paper, the performance of a CFRP reinforced retaining wall is investigated using the finite element method. Since the characterization of behavior of soils and interfaces are vital for reliable prediction from the numerical model, soil and interface properties are obtained from comprehensive laboratory tests. Based on the laboratory results for CFRP, backfill soil, and interface data, the finite element model is used to study the behavior of a CFRP reinforced wall. The finite element model was verified based on the results of filed measurements for a reference wall. Then the reference wall simulated by CFRP reinforcements and the results. The results of this investigations showed that the safety factor of CFRP reinforced wall is more and its deformations is less than those for a retaining wall reinforced with ordinary geosynthetics while their construction costs are in similar range.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.599-614
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• 2022

One of the methods of stabilizing retaining walls, embankments, and deep excavations is the implementation of plate anchors (like the Geolock wall anchor systems). Back-to-back Mechanically Stabilized Earth (BBMSE) walls are common stabilized earth structures that can be used for bridge ramps. But so far, the analysis of the interactive behavior of two back-to-back anchored walls (BBAW) by double-plates anchors (constructed closely from each other and subjected to the limited-breadth vertical loading) including interference of their failure and sliding surfaces has not been the subject of comprehensive studies. Indeed, in this compound system, the interaction of sliding wedges of these two back-to-back walls considering the shear failure wedge of the foundation, significantly impresses on the foundation bearing capacity, adjacent walls displacements and deformations, and their stability. In this study, the effect of horizontal distance between two walls (W), breadth of loading plate (B), and position of vertical loading was investigated experimentally. In addition, the comparison of using single and equivalent double-plate anchors was evaluated. The loading plate bearing capacity and displacements, and deformations of BBAW were measured and the results are presented. To evaluate the shape, form, and how the critical failure surfaces of the soil behind the walls and beneath the foundation intersect with one another, the Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) technique was applied. The experimental tests results showed that in this composite system (two adjacent-loaded BBAW) the effective distance of walls is about W = 2.5*H (H: height of walls) and the foundation effective breadth is about B = H, concerning foundation bearing capacity, walls horizontal displacements and their deformations. For more amounts of W and B, the foundation and walls can be designed and analyzed individually. Besides, in this compound system, the foundation bearing capacity is an exponential function of the System Geometry Variable (SGV) whereas walls displacements are a quadratic function of it. Finally, as an important achievement, doubling the plates of anchors can facilitate using concrete walls, which have limitations in tolerating curvature.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.7-19
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• 2002

This paper presents the results of an investigation on the effect of foundation stiffness on the performance of soil-reinforced segmental retaining walls (SRWalls). Laboratory model tests were performed using a reduced-scale physical model to capture the fundamentals of the manner in which the foundation stiffness affects the behavior of SRWalls. A series of finite-element analyses were additionally performed on a prototype wall in order to supplement the findings from the model tests and to examine full-scale behavior of SRWalls encountered in the field. The results of the present investigation indicate that lateral wall displacements significantly increase with the decrease of the foundation stiffness. Also revealed is that the increase in wall displacements is likely to be caused by the rigid body movement of the reinforced soil mass with negligible internal deformation within the reinforced soil mass. The findings from this study support the current design approaches, in which the problem concerning the foundation condition are treated in the frame work of the external stability rather than the internal stability. The implications of the findings from this study to current design approaches are discussed in detail.