Behavior of Reinforced Retaining Walls with Different Reinforcement Spacing during Vehicle Collisions

Abstract

Accidents involving vehicles crashing into reinforced retaining walls are increasing because of the increased construction of reinforced retaining walls on roads. Unlike a normal retaining wall, a reinforced retaining wall is not one united body but is made up of blocks. Hence, a reinforced wall can break down when a vehicle crashes into it. The behavior of such a wall during vehicle collision depends upon the reinforcement material used for its construction, its design, and the method of the construction. In this study, the behavior of a reinforced retaining wall was analyzed while changing the reinforcement spacing using LS-DYNA, a general finite-element program. Eight tons of truck weight was used for the numerical analysis model. The behavior of a reinforced retaining wall under variable reinforcement spacing and positioning was analyzed. The results indicated that the reinforcement material was an important resistance factor against external collision load.