Centrifuge study on the stability of mechanically stabilized earth wall with clayey backfill of high water content

• Main Authors: Po-Wen Chen, 陳柏文
• Other Authors: C. C. Li.
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2004
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/10588379337310488673

碩士 === 國立中央大學 === 土木工程研究所 === 92 === ABSTRACT The design and construction guidelines of mechanically stabilized earth wall (MSEW) require that the backfill of MSEW must be well-graded grained soil; however, on the construction sites, the cohesive soil or clay is frequently used to cut down the cost. There have been reports about the failures of MSEW with clayey soil as backfill due to the rise of its water content after heavy rainfall. As a result, it is imperative that the countermeasure must be developed to ensure the stability of MSEW with clayey backfill of high water content. A series of centrifuge model tests have been performed to study the influence of water content on the stability of MSEW with clayey backfill and the effectiveness of reducing the reinforcement spacing to maintain the stability of MSEW of high water content. From this study, the conclusions drawn are: (1) The degree of water content influences the stability of MSEW with clayey backfill very much; (2) Decreasing the reinforcement spacing can indeed improve the stability of MSEW of high water content; (3) For MSEW with clayey backfill of 43 % water content, reducing the reinforcement spacing by 65% of the original design spacing can lead to the same deformation characteristics of MSEW designed for normal conditions; (4) When the reinforcement spacing is smaller than 0.625 times of original design spacing, the deformation pattern for MSEW changes from small surface settlement with tilting wall face to large surface settlement with bulging wall face, indicating that the wall becomes more ductile before failure.