Numerical studies of anchored sheet pile wall behavior constructed in cut and fill conditions

The construction of sheet pile walls may involve either excavation of soils in front or backfilling of soils behind the wall. These construction procedures generate different loading conditions in the soil and therefore different wall behavior should also be expected. The conventional methods, which are based on limit equilibrium approach, commonly used in the design of anchored sheet pile walls do not consider the method of construction. However, continuum mechanics numerical methods, such as finite element method, make it possible to incorporate the construction method during the analyses and design of sheet pile walls. The effect of wall construction type for varying soil conditions and wall heights were investigated using finite element modeling and analysis. The influence of construction method on soil behavior, wall deformations, wall bending moments, and anchor forces were investigated. The study results indicate that walls constructed by backfill method yield significantly higher bending moments and wall deformations. This paper presents the results of the numerical parametric study performed and comparative analyses of the anchored sheet pile walls constructed by different construction methods. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.