Critical height research of reinforced retaining wall considering the friction loss
Long Jianhui1 Jiao Shan1,2 Wang Xiaoya1
1. Taiyuan University of Technology，Taiyuan 030024, China;
2. The Third Geological Exploration Institute of China Metallurgical Geology Bureau, Taiyuan 030024, China
Abstract：In the present design of critical height of reinforce retaining wall, the loss of friction between soil and reinforcement is usually neglected. In this study, an improved formula is proposed to calculate the critical height of reinforced retaining wall. This new equation is derived based on the upper bound theorem for limit analysis, which takes the three factors into considerations in the internal failure of reinforced retain wall: (i) the rates of energy dissipation of reinforcement, (ii) the rates of energy dissipation of soil along the velocity discontinuity surface, and (iii) the rate of friction loss along their interface. This theoretical equation is tested against the data from a centrifugal test. The results calculated using the proposed formula are in closer agreement with the measurements/observations in the centrifugal than those existing equations, in terms of both the critical height and the failure mechanism, indicating the important influence of soil-reinforcement friction on the stability and design of critical height of reinforced retaining wall. The results presented in this study has some important practical implications, the stability of retaining wall could be improved by increasing friction coefficient, for the purpose of optimization of design of reinforced retaining wall.
