Experimental and Numerical Evaluation of the Effect of Compaction-Induced Stress on Reinforced Soil Walls Performance

The influence of the compaction-induced stress is experimentally and numerically evaluated on the behavior of reinforced soil walls (RSWs), under working stress conditions. Experimental studies have been carried out to evaluate the effect of the compaction condition at the back of the block facing on the behavior of geosynthetic-reinforced soil walls. Three large-scale geosynthetic-reinforced soil walls were constructed at the COPPE/UFRJ Geotechnical Laboratory. The walls were well-instrumented to monitor the values of the reinforcement load, toe horizontal load, horizontal facing displacement, horizontal stress on the back of the block facing, and vertical displacement at the top of the walls. The numerical analyses have been carried out using the 2D finite element program Plaxis considering two different procedures for modeling of the compaction-induced stress found in the literature. The numerical analyses were validated using data from a full-scale well-instrumented geosynthetic-reinforced soil wall. The results of the experimental studies and numerical analyses are presented and discussed.