3D numerical prediction of failure behaviour for the straight and curved parts of retaining wall according to various heights

Abstract

Reinforced soil retaining walls are widely used for road and railway construction, various types of embankment, housing and industrial development, etc. with good safety and economic efficiency, and the number of studies on reinforced soil retaining walls has steadily increased. However, most research on reinforced soil retaining walls focus on two-dimensional linear parts. The behaviour of curved parts in reinforced soil retaining wall is questionable, and collapse of that also occurs frequently. Therefore, in this study, reinforced soil retaining walls were modelled by stacking blocks of 0.4 × 0.5 × 0.4 m (length × width × height), and the retaining walls were divided into four cases (heights of 3.2, 5.2, 7.2, 9.2 m). The failure behavior of the straight parts and the curved parts were compared, depending on the height. Based on the height of the reinforced soil retaining wall, the failure behaviours of the curved parts and straight parts of the reinforced soil retaining wall were predicted through 3D numerical analysis. This study aims to raise the necessity of research on the curved parts.