• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.21 no.8
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• pp.107-116
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• 2005

Generally, when the stability of the geosynthetic reinforced soil slopes is analyzed, the required tensile forces of each reinforcement layers are calculated from total reinforcement forces which are necessary to retain the equilibrium state of slip mass in which the slip surfaces are assumed to be a linear or bilinear. It is assumed that the reinforcement forces are increased or constant with depth. However, according to the instrumented field data and laboratory model test results, the maximum tensile strain of reinforcement in a reinforced soil slope is developed in a certain elevation, not a bottom of the slope. In the concept of reinforced soil, postulated failure surfaces are the traces of the position in which the reinforcement tensile forces are maximum in the layer, and the reinforcement tensile forces are related to the stress state on the postulated failure surface. Therefore, in this study, based on the distribution of normal stress on the slip surface, a new method for the evaluation of required tensile forces is suggested and a number of the instrumented field data are analyzed by newly suggested method. As a result, it is shown that the newly suggested method produces relatively accurate reinforcement tension forces.