• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.61-72
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• 2002

This paper presents the results of investigation on the behavior of soil-reinforced segmental retaining walls in tiered arrangement using the finite element method of analysis. 2D finite element analyses were performed on tiered walls with two levels of offset distance. Cases with equivalent surcharge as suggested by the NCMA design guideline were additionally analyzed in an attempt to confirm the appropriateness of the equivalent surcharge model adopted by NCMA. Deformation characteristics of a tiered wall with small offset distance suggest a compound mode of failure and support current design approaches requiring a global slope stability analysis for design. Also revealed is that the interaction between the upper and lower walls significantly affects not only the performance of the lower wall but also the upper wall, suggesting that the upper walls should also be designed with due consideration of the interaction.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.13-24
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• 2003

This paper presents the results of investigation on the effects of foundation stiffness and surface loading on the performance of soil-reinforced segmental retaining walls using the finite element method of analysis. A parametric study was performed by varying the foundation stiffness and the location of surface loading. The results of the analyses indicate that the wall deformation and reinforcement tensile load tend to increase with decreasing foundation stiffness with little variation in the horizontal and vertical stress distributions at the back and the base of the reinforced soil zone. Also revealed is that the increment of reinforcement tensile load due to the presence of surface load may be significantly over-estimated when using the conventional approach. Furthermore, the external stability should be carefully examined when a surface loading is present just behind the reinforced soil zone. The implications of the findings from this study to current design approaches are discussed in detail.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.51-58
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• 2005

The use of geogrid for SRW systems and bridge abutment has increased rapidly over the past 10 years in Korea. The concept of segmental retaining walls and reinforced soil is very old and for example The Ziggurats of Babylonia(i.e. Tower of Babel) were built some 2,500 to 3,000 years ago using soil reinforcing methods very similar to those described in current design. Modern SRW(Semental Retaining Wall) units were introduced in 1960's as concrete crib retaining wall systems. In this paper, the friction properties between segmental concrete units and geogrid are investigated by performing various tests.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.47-56
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• 2005

Recently, geosynthetic reinforced earth walls are gradually replacing conventional concrete retaining walls for reasons of economy, expediency of construction, and aesthetics. A number of reinforced soil walls having more than 10m heights have been constructed to make more effective development in the country. However, mistakes in design and construction of reinforced earth walls have resulted in many troubles such as failure of reinforced earth walls, horizontal deformationor breakdown of facings, and so forth during or after construction. In this paper, a case study on global sliding failure of a geogrid-reinforced tiered wall is carried out to investigate the causes of the failure and suggest the proper countermeasures. From the subsurface investigation and field instrumentation, It is found that the cause of the global sliding failure was occurred by decreasing of bearing capacity of foundation ground induced by infiltration of rainwater.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.15-25
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• 2001

본 고에서는 블록식 보강토 옹벽의 지진시 거동에 관한 유한요소해석 결과를 다루었다. 보강토 옹벽의 지진시 변위거동을 검토한 결과 벽체저부를 지점으로 하는 캔틸레버형태의 변위 거동을 보였으며 따라서 옹벽 상단부에서의 보강재 인장력 증가가 현저하게 나타나 벽체전반에 걸친 분포양상은 균등한 경향을 보였다. 한편, 지진하중으로 인한 증분유발인장력에 관하여 검토한 결과 기존의 보강토 옹벽 내진설계기준과 비교하여 정성.정량적인 측면에서 상당한 차이를 보였으며 내진설계기준이 전반적으로 과소평가 하는 것으로 나타났다. 아울러서, 내진설계측면에서 변위억제 방안에 관한 매개변수 연구결과 임의 조건에 있어서 최대의 보강효과를 나타내는 보강재 임계 강성과 포설길이가 존재하며 최적의 보강효과를 얻기 위해서는 이에 대한 종합적인 검토가 요구되는 것으로 나타났다. 본 고에서는 연구결과를 종합적으로 고찰하여 실무 적용관점에서의 주안점을 언급하였다.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.53-62
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• 1999

Despite the frequent use of the soil-reinforced segmental retaining wall (SRW) system, the roles of the different components comprising the system, such as facing blocks, reinforcements, backfill, and block/backfill interface, are still not fully understood, and much still need to be investigated for more safe and economical design/analysis method. Therefore, this study was undertaken with the aim of understanding the effect of the shear strength of backfill material and the reinforcement stiffness on the behavior of SRW by using the finite element analysis. In the analysis the details of construction sequence and the SRW components were carefully modeled, and a parametric study was performed in order to investigate the effects of shear strength of backfill soil and reinforcement stiffness on the wall displacement and earth pressure, the vertical stress under the reinforced block, the reinforcement and block/reinforcement connection forces. Implications of the findings from this study to current design practices were discussed in detail.