• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.1 no.3
• /
• pp.193-204
• /
• 2009

A 10.4-m high highway embankment retained behind mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) walls is under construction in the northeastern part of the Indian state of Bihar. The structure is constructed with compacted, micaceous, grey, silty sand, reinforced with polyester (PET) geogrids, and faced with reinforced cement concrete fascia panels. The connections between the fascia panels and the geogrids failed on several occasions during the monsoon seasons of 2007 and 2008 following episodes of heavy rainfall, when the embankment was still under construction. However, during these incidents the MSE embankment itself remained by and large stable and the collateral damages were minimal. The observational data during these incidents presented an opportunity to develop and calibrate a simple procedure for estimating rainfall induced pore water pressure development within MSE embankments constructed with backfill materials that do not allow unimpeded seepage. A simple analytical finite element model was developed for the purpose. The modeling results were found to agree with the observational and meteorological records from the site. These results also indicated that the threshold rainwater infiltration flux needed for the development of pore water pressure within an MSE embankment is a monotonically increasing function of the hydraulic conductivity of backfill. Specifically for the MSE embankment upon which this study is based, the analytical results indicated that the instabilities could have been avoided by having in place a chimney drain immediately behind the fascia panels.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
• /
• v.26 no.4C
• /
• pp.239-245
• /
• 2006

The steep slopes have been increased of new roads, industrial site development and large scale residential development. The preservation administration and steep slope construction are currently investigated by many researchers in Korea. However, concrete retaining wall or reinforced soil (i.e. Block or Pannel) are being applied for the steep slope, which results in the front face form of the structure being limited. This research investigates the method that can make up afforestation environment-friendly circumstances during the construction of steep slope structure. It is considered that steep slope reinforced structure would be possible based on the monitoring results about earth pressure, horizontal displacement and consolidation quality generated during the construction of whole constructing reinforced structure. Also, there no problems in grassy surface, drainage, and deformation in spite of rainy season after construction period and until now. So that the seeding soil layer surface reinforced soil method could be adopt for steep slope reinforced structure and others.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
• /
• v.9 no.4
• /
• pp.1-7
• /
• 2010

The soil nailing method have been developed on the basis of experimental works as well as theoretical backgrounds. As for the experimental research works, most of the data have been measured during the application of load in service. However, not only the soil-nailed structure behavior in service but also the failure behavior of the structure are the major concerns to evaluate and even establish a design method of soil-nailed walls. In this paper for the apprehension of behavior in the soil-nailed structure which the front of nail is connected, a relatively large-scale experiment was carried out to figure out the failure behavior of soil-nailed wall. A number of data have been acquired and analysis.

• Computers and Concrete
• /
• v.33 no.5
• /
• pp.545-557
• /
• 2024

A real-case incident occurred where a 9-meter-high segment of a pre-fabricated concrete separation wall unexpectedly collapsed. This collapse was triggered by improperly depositing excavated soil against the wall's back, a condition for which the wall segments were not designed to withstand lateral earth pressure, leading to a flexural failure. The event's analysis, integrating technical data and observational insights, revealed that internal forces at the time of failure significantly exceeded the wall's capacity per standard design. The Lattice Discrete Particle Model (LDPM) further replicates the collapse mechanism. Our approach involved defining various parameter sets to replicate the concrete's mechanical response, consistent with the tested compressive strength. Subsequent stages included calibrating these parameters across different scales and conducting full-scale simulations. These simulations carried out with various parameter sets, were thoroughly analyzed to identify the most representative failure mechanism. We developed an equation from this analysis that quickly correlates the parameters to the wall's load-carry capacity, aligned with the simulation. Additionally, our study examined the wall's post-peak behavior, extending up to the point of collapse. This aspect of the analysis was essential for preventing failure, providing crucial time for intervention, and potentially averting a disaster. However, the reinforced concrete residual state is far from being fully understood. While it's impractical for engineers to depend on the residual state of structural elements during the design phase, comprehending this state is essential for effective response and mitigation strategies after initial failure occurs.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
• /
• v.9 no.2
• /
• pp.47-59
• /
• 2008

Application of mechanically stabilized earth wall (MSEW) abutment has been rapidly increasing in United States of America, Pennsylvania since 2002. MSEW is effective for reducing construction cost and period compared to general concrete reinforced wall. In the paper, theoretical background and conventional criterion of MSEW abutment that is widely used abroad are analyzed. Based on the results, application of suitable MSEW abutment to domestic bridge type is examined. For the application of MSEW abutment in Korea, load interacting with upper shoe in domestic bridge types and structural analyses of beam seat and pile are investigated. As a result, all applications are possible except for PSC BOX Bridge that has heavy self-weight of girder. Through two and three dimensional numerical analyses, horizontal behaviour mechanisms between pile and MSEW were analyzed and field tests are also carried out for seven piles behind earth walls. From results of field tests, it is confirmed that an angle of internal friction of backfill material needs to be greater than 34 degree to use H-Pile as foundation of MSEW.

• Proceedings of the KSR Conference
• /
• 2003.05a
• /
• pp.46-52
• /
• 2003

In this study, the full scale testing method of the geogrid-reiuorced soil Segmental Retaining Walll(SRW) under the simulated train loading were proposed in order to evaluate the applicability of reinforced soil SRW in railway embankment. The train loading was simulated by the design static wheel load and the impact coefficient due to the train passing velocity. This test was focused on the static performance of reinforced soil SRW in terms of the following measuring systems ; the horizontal earth pressure displacement acting on the facing block and the tensile strain along the geogrid. The data gathered from this full scale testing was compared with numerical analysis results by FLAC.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
• /
• v.16 no.4
• /
• pp.21-31
• /
• 2017

Geobag method is an eco-friendly method to minimize the impact on the environment in the construction of retaining wall structure as a kind of geosynthetic reinforced retaining walls. In this study, evaluated behavior of full scaled geobag retaining wall about four different types of geobag retaining walls, that is, non-compacted geobags wall, compacted geobag wall, combination of longitudinal and transversal laied geobags wall, gabion and geobag wall were constructed in the field with instrumentation. Based on the results of field measurement, transversal layered geobag wall for non-compacted case was displaced 30% more than that of mixed gabion wall. Also, the more than 2m geobag walls without reinforcement at the backfill area are turned out to be unstable in terms of wall displacement. On the one hand, the distribution of the earth pressure for all geobag retaining walls sites show within the range of Rankine's and Coulomb's earth pressure after construction. But after intensity rainfall, the transversal laied geobag walls significantly increment of soil pressure. The geobag walls which constructed in the way of mixed wall systems such as gabion and geobag, longitudinal and transversal laied geobags are much stable with comparison of transversal laied geobag wall.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
• /
• v.18 no.2
• /
• pp.23-36
• /
• 2019

In this paper, field measurement of the Block Type Mechanically Stabilized Earth (MSE) wall curved section was performed, and the reinforced area of the curved part is studied through the result. MSE method has been applied to various fields because of easy construction and excellent economic efficiency, so that it can be easily access in our life. However due to lack of compaction and stress concentration phenomenon, cracks and collapse occur in the curve of MSE wall, which is important for safety. The cause of collapse is lack of research on curved section, lack of design criteria, lack of construction due to economical efficiency and shortening of construction period, insufficient compaction space. In this study, therefore, it was examined the existing design and construction standards, analyzed the cause through accident examples of the curved section of the Block Type MSE wall. As a result, the horizontal displacement of the curved section was 90% higher than that of the straight section and 60% higher than that of the concave section. In the case of the convex section in the curved section reinforcement region, the maximum displacement is shown in the H/2 section in the horizontal direction from the center of the MSE wall, and the range of influence from H is shown. In the case of the concave section, the maximum displacement is shown in the center, The minimum displacement was confirmed in H/4 section in the horizontal direction from the center of the MSE wall. As a basic study on the reinforcement area rehabilitation through the actual construction of block type MSE wall, the behaviors of the straight part and the curved part were compared and analyzed. And analyzed the reinforced area in order to reduce the damage of the stress concentration phenomenon and secure the safety.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
• /
• v.18 no.4
• /
• pp.339-347
• /
• 2002

An in-situ experiment was performed to evaluate the pullout resistance capacity of chains which is used as a reinforcement of reinforced earth wall. It was also considered that chain was combined with a bar or L-type steel angle by the transverse reinforcement member in the experiment. About 80 pullout tests were peformed with varying the lengths of chain(2.0m, 2.5m, and 3.0m), the combination of each transverse members(chain only, chain＋bar, or chain＋angle), and the vertical placement of reinforcements. In the case that uses a chain only and a chain combined with bar, the maximum displacement was about 150mm and load continuously increased to the ultimate tensile strength of chain, and then tension failure of chains occurred. But in the case of a chain combined with angle, the displacement decreased to about 100mm and so it was expected that this combination can constrain the displacement of chain. On the other hand, comparing the yielding pullout load measured in the field to that calculated by theoretical equation, it is shown that measured values are 1.2~3.0 times greater than those of calculated values according to the length of chain, normal vertical stress, and the combination of chain with transverse members. However, the difference in the increment of yielding pullout load between bar and angle is not clear but it appears almost the same increment. It is expected that chain can be safely used as reinforcements of reinforced earth wall, although a theoretical estimation of the pullout resistance capability of chain is too conservative.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
• /
• v.4 no.2
• /
• pp.29-38
• /
• 2005

It is essential to take consideration of long-term deformation characteristics of mechanically stabilized earth wall user sustained and repeated loads for design and construction, especially for use as part of permanent structures. This paper presents the long-term performance of a full-scale geogrid reinforced segmental retaining wall results based on the measured strains in geogrids for three years. The results indicate that the reinforcement tensile strains tend to continuously increase after wall completion with the increase being more pronounced in the reinforcement layers in the lower tier. It can be concluded that the long-term deformation should be taken in account for walls constructed as part of permanent structures for which wall deformation should be controlled.