In this research, laboratory pullout tests were conducted on grouted soil nails to study the effect of wetting on the interface shear resistance between nail and soil during pullout. Deformed bars with equal size to the true soil nails were used as model nails. The soil used was silty fine sand collected at the site and prepared to a very dense condition. Rainfall infiltration was simulated using duplicated soil nails inundated by water for different periods. Test results indicated that the peak pullout resistance strongly decreases upon wetting, with a reduction of about 60% after soaking for 28 days. However, the experiments showed that there is a threshold water content (or soaking time) beyond which the effect of infiltration on the pullout resistance is reduced. The laboratory protocols developed in this study offered an easy scheme for the prediction of the pullout capacity of a grouted soil nail upon wetting.
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