Title: Numerical study of the behaviour of geosynthetic-reinforced soil retaining walls under a uniform surcharge

Authors: Wafa Djebablah; Mohamed Salah Nouaouria; Souhila Adjabi

Addresses: Laboratory of Civil Engineering and Hydraulics, University of 8 Mai 1945 Guelma, Algeria ' Laboratory of Civil Engineering and Hydraulics, University of 8 Mai 1945 Guelma, Algeria ' Laboratory of Civil Engineering and Hydraulics, University of 8 Mai 1945 Guelma, Algeria

Abstract: The geosynthetic technique of reinforcing retaining walls is one of the techniques that are currently being developed in the field of geotechnics. This article focuses on a numerical study, using two-dimensional finite difference Fast Lagrangian Analysis of Continua FLAC^2D software, to investigate the influence of a uniform surcharge application on the behaviour of a geosynthetic-reinforced soil retaining wall, especially on the maximum tensile force and wall displacement at the end of construction. A parametric study was undertaken taking into account the surcharge load, the width and its distance from the continuous facing panel. The results show that the tensile forces in the reinforcement and the horizontal displacements of the facing panel increase with increasing the uniform surcharge. Furthermore, a small effect was noted on the maximum tensile force in the geosynthetic layers with varying the surcharge distance from the back of the facing panel.

Keywords: geosynthetic; surcharge; facing panel; Itasca; FLAC^2D; retaining wall.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSTRUCTE.2020.105632

International Journal of Structural Engineering, 2020 Vol.10 No.2, pp.139 - 149

Received: 28 Nov 2018
Accepted: 07 Jul 2019
Published online: 06 Mar 2020 *

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