• Geotechnical Engineering
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.47-60
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• 1989

Lateral earth Pressure distributions due to the ,randy soil backfill behind the rigid vertical walls for three different wall movement modes are obtained by the elasto-plastic finite element analys of soil deformation, and these earth pressures are compared with both Rankine's and Dubrova's active earth pressures. Thereby, the effects of the magnitude and the mode of wall displacement on the earth pressure distribution are investigated. Three different modes of wall movement considered in this study are the rotation about bottom, the rotation about top and the translation. For the case of the wall rotation about top, the earth pressure distribution is shown as a reverse S-curve-shaped distribution due to the arching effect. Consequently, the point of application of the lateral thrust is much higher than one-third of the wall height from the base. And, comparing the other modes of wall movement, the magnitude and the point of appliestion of the lateral thrust for the wall rotation about top are larger and higher, respectively. The wedge-shaped plastic zone in the backfill at active failure is developed only for the mode of wall rotation about bottom. The lateral earth pressure distributions on the walls with inclined backfill of several different slopes are shown for the mode of wall rotation about bottom.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.41 no.5
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• pp.533-541
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• 2021

Retaining walls have been used to prevent slope failure through resistance of earth pressure in railway, road, nuclear power plant, dam, and river infrastructure. To calculate dynamic earth pressure and determine the characteristics for seismic behavior, many researchers have analyzed the nonlinear response of ground and structure based on various numerical analyses (FLAC, PLAXIS, ABAQUS etc). In addition, seismic fragility evaluation is performed to ensure safety against earthquakes for structures. In this study, we used the FLAC2D program to understand the seismic response of the inverted T-type wall with a backfill slope, and evaluated seismic fragility based on relative horizontal displacements of the wall. Nonlinear site response analysis was performed for each site (S2 and S4) using the seven ground motions to calculate various seismic loadings reflecting site characteristics. The numerical model was validated based on other numerical models, experiment results, and generalized formula for dynamic active earth pressure. We also determined the damage state and damage index based on the height of retaining wall, and developed the seismic fragility curves. The damage probabilities of the retaining wall for the S4 site were computed to be larger than those for the S2 site.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.33 no.11
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• pp.59-72
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• 2017

In this study, the calculation method of the active earth pressure acting on the imaginary vertical plane at the end of the heel of the wall is proposed. For cantilever retaining wall, a change of shear zone behind the wall affects the earth pressure in the vertical plane at the end of heel of the wall depending on wall friction and angle of ground slope. It is very complicated to calculate the earth pressure by a limit equilibrium method (LEM) which considers angles of failure planes varying according to the heel length of the wall. So, the limit analysis method (LAM) is used for calculation of earth pressure in this study. Using the LAM, the earth pressures considering the actual slope angles of failure plane are calculated accurately, and then horizontal and vertical earth pressures are obtained from them respectively. This study results show that by decreasing the relative length of the heel, the slope angle of inward failure plane becomes larger than theoretical slope angle but the slope angle of outward failure plane does not change. And also the friction angle on the vertical plane at the end of the heel of the wall is between the ground slope angle and the wall friction angle, thereafter the active earth pressure decreases. Finally, the Coulomb earth pressure can be easily calculated from the relationship between friction angle (the ratio of vertical earth pressure to horizontal earth pressure) and relative length of the heel (the ratio of heel length to wall height).

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.17 no.12
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• pp.27-34
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• 2016

Many steepened slopes have become increasingly advantageous because of the desire to increase land usage and decrease site development costs. The proven concept of tensile reinforcement allows construction of slopes with far steeper face angles than the soils natural angle. Steepened slope face reinforced with improved soil can increase land usage substantially while providing a natural appearance. The paper presents composite reinforced earth with improved soil surface and geogrid-reinforced backfill. For the stability of the steepened slope, the behavior of the composite reinforced earth are validated and verified by case study and numerical analysis. The case study has performed to investigate the deformation of reinforce soil slope for 14 months. Its horizontal behavior by general vertical load shows within the safe range (0.5% of structure height). As a result of numerical analysis and case study, the reinforcement effect of the steepened slope technique using improved soil is sufficient to be constructed as reinforced soil slope.