A field instrumentation and FEM analysis for an isolated-reinforced earth wall

摘要

During the construction of reinforced earth wall, an amount of accumulative horizontal deformation induced by backfilling compaction is inevitable. To reduce the horizontal displacement, an isolated-reinforced earth wall method was developed by isolating the facing blocks from the reinforced embankment. Field tests were performed by sequential construction of a 7.2 m high trial embankment in order to verify the effect of the method. Firstly, a reinforced embankment composed of geogrids, geotextiles and backfills was constructed. As a second construction stage, the facing blocks were installed in front of the embankment. During the construction, displacement pins and strain gauges were used to measure the horizontal deformations of the wall and the tensile strains of geogrids, respectively. Based on the field instrumentations of trial embankment, it is found that the reduction in horizontal displacement of facing blocks is significant; the horizontal deflection in the first construction stage was 70 mm and the corresponding value of second construction was approximately 0(zero). It is also found that the prediction by FEM analysis simulates well the general trend observed from field instrumentation.