• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
• /
• v.21 no.10
• /
• pp.49-60
• /
• 2005

This paper presents the results of an investigation on the effects of design variables on the behavior of geosynthetic-reinforced modular block walls in a tiered arrangement using the finite-element method of numerical analysis. A parametric study was performed by varying the offset distance between the tiers and reinforcement length of the lower and upper tier using verified finite-element model. The finite-element analysis provided relevant information on the mechanical behavior of the tier wall and interaction mechanism between the upper and lower tier, which was otherwise difficult to obtain from the limit-equilibrium analysis based current design approaches. Practical implications of the findings obtained from this study in the current design approaches are discussed in great detail.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
• /
• v.4 no.1
• /
• pp.11-17
• /
• 2003

The existing geotextile reinforced soil wall methods have a demerit in terms of esthetic view because concrete panel or block are used as wall facing of the methods. If grass planting walls could be used in reinforced soil slope or wall methods, efficiency of the methods would be increased with maximization of advantage of the methods. In this study, some possible methods in which grass planting wall is used as wall facing are devised. A series of laboratory model tests were performed to investigate the behavior of newly devised methods in order to compare with the results of each others. As a major result, it was found that this kinds of grass wall facing methods could be accepted as a new construction method even in the sense of stability.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
• /
• v.11 no.2
• /
• pp.39-47
• /
• 2012

This paper describes large-scale pullout test results of geosynthetic strip, which can be applied in reinforced earth wall with block-type wall facing. The pullout tests are conducted to evaluate the strain distribution, the induced pullout force and the pullout strength. The maximum pullout force is appeared regardless of reinforcement width and normal stress when end displacement is less than 15 mm. The pullout behavior based on horizontal spacing of reinforcement was similar in relationship between pullout force and end displacement. The strain distribution and pullout force distribution of the geosynthetic strip are concentrated in the front part of reinforcement, and it appeared clearly in higher normal stress condition This means that the pullout behavior of geosynthetic strip is affected by the bond between soil and friction resistance reinforcement according normal stress. Therefore, the pullout resistance design is reasonable when pullout behavior of geosynthetic strip should be evaluated by effective length considering tensile characteristic.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
• /
• 2005.03a
• /
• pp.207-215
• /
• 2005

This paper presents a case history of a geosynthetics-reinforced segmental retaining wall, which collapsed during a sever rainfall immediately after the completion of the wall construction. In an attempt to identify possible causes for the collapse, a comprehensive investigation was carried out including physical and strength tests on the backfill, stability analyses on the as-built design based on the current design approaches, and slope stability analyses with pore pressure consideration. The investigation revealed that the inappropriate as-built design and the bad-quality backfill were mainly responsible for the collapse. This paper describes the site condition including wall design, details of the results of investigation and finally, lessons learned. Practical significance of the findings from this study is also discussed.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
• /
• v.10 no.2
• /
• pp.55-66
• /
• 2011

This paper presents the results of an investigation on the failure mechanism of geosynthetic reinforced soil walls in back-to-back configuration using 1-g reduced-scale model tests as well as discrete element method-based numerical investigation. In the 1-g reduced scale model tests, 1/10 scale back-to-back walls were constructed so that the wall can be brought to failure by its own weight and the effect of reinforcement length on the failure mechanism was investigated. In addition, a validated discrete element method-based numerical model was used to further investigate the failure mechanism of back-to-back walls with different boundary conditions. The results were then compared with the failure mechanisms defined in the FHWA design guideline.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
• /
• 2008.10a
• /
• pp.176-183
• /
• 2008

This paper highlights the importance of carrying out global slope stability analysis as part of design calculations for geosynethetic walls in tiered configuration. Four design case histories were selected to examine the appropriateness of their design by performing additional slope stability analyses using the shear strength reduction method with in the frame work of finite element analysis. The results indicated that all of the walls examined, which were designed to meet the current design guide lines, did not satisfy the global slope stability requirement, and that longer reinforcements are required in the upper tiers to achieve the minimum factor of safety. Practical implications of the findings are discussed.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
• /
• v.23 no.6
• /
• pp.5-21
• /
• 2007

Despite a number of advantages of reinforced earth walls over conventional concrete retaining walls, there exit concerns over long-term residual deformation when they are subjected to repeated and/or cyclic loads, especially when used as part of permanent structures. In view of these concerns, in this paper time-dependant deformation characteristics of geosynthetic reinforced modular block walls under sustained anuor repeated loads were investigated using reduced-scale model tests. The results indicated that a sustained or repeated load can yield appreciable magnitude of residual deformation, and that the residual deformations are influenced not only by the loading characteristics but by the mechanical properties of geogrid. It is also found that the preloading technique can be effectively used in controlling residual deformations of reinforced soils subjected to sustained and/or repeated loads.

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

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
• /
• v.20 no.12
• /
• pp.15-20
• /
• 2019

This paper evaluated the construction costs of 11 design cases to decrease the horizontal forces applied to the abutment. They include two abutment types, which are to improve backfill materials for a reversed T-shaped abutment and geosynthetic Reinforced Abutment for Railways (RAR). The first type of economic analysis was that the internal friction angles of backfill materials were increased from Φ=35° to Φ=40° and 50° for a reversed T-shaped abutment. In addition, the second type was the cases with the design of geosynthetic RAR. When friction angles of 40° or 50° were applied through the improvement of the backfill material, the decrease in construction cost of the abutment was not large (2.0~3.9%), even though the horizontal forces applied to the abutment had decreased to 18~48%. In the case of applying the RAR, however, a maximum 30% cost reduction was evaluated by the decrease in horizontal force to "0" theoretically. The cost reduction resulted from the decrease in wall thickness, base slab size, and number and material change of pile foundation for the abutment.

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