Verification of a three dimensional numerical model for a mechanically stabilized earth wall

Abstract EN

In comparison to traditional retaining wall systems, Mechanically Stabilized Earth Walls(MSEW) provide advantages of cost savings, relatively easy and fast construction, and good performance withregard to differential settlements.

Behavior of MSEW is complicated due to the mechanical complexity of the component materials, interactions, and unquantifiable effects of construction method.

Current design standards are based primarily on understanding of two-dimensional plane-strain behavior regardless of the 3D behavior and associated mechanisms.

The objective of this research is to develop and verify a 3D numerical model that can be later adopted for studying the 3D behaviour of MSEWs of different geometries usingPLAXIS 3D.

The numerical modelwas verified against the monitoring records of Wall 1 reported by Hatami & Bathurst (2005) at the Royal Military College of Canada.

The model verification shows that the modeling technique used in Plaxis 3D is capable of capturing qualitative trends of the instrumented MSEW response, and in most cases quantitative values are in agreement with the monitoring records and predictions by Hatami and Bathurst (2005, 2006).

Hardening Soil (HS) constitutive model would better simulate the stress- strain relationship for sand derived/ calibrated from tri-axial test.

The linear Elasto-Plastic anisotropic geogrid model with secant modulus at 1.5% strain is found appropriate.

Plate elementsused to model the facing are found suitable to simulate discrete facing blocks, as an alternative to solid elements to reduce complexity of the model and computation time.