Behaviour of reinforced soil retaining wall under static loading using finite element method

The paper pertains to the analysis of reinforced-earth walls using the Finite Element Method (FEM). Numerical analysis of any interface embodied problem is a complex task and FEM is likely to be the most suitable for the purpose. In the present analysis, the backfill soil and the wall facing have been modelled using 4-noded linear isoparametric rectangular elements, while the geosynthetic reinforcement is idealized by one-dimensional linearly elastic bar element. The interaction of soil and reinforcement is simulated by considering Goodman's 'zero thickness' joint elements. Predictions made with regard to the wall movement, settlement of the backfill surface and strains in the reinforcement for a bench mark problem using the present analysis, have been found to follow the trends of experimentally observed values. However, comparison of the present predictions with other FEM results reported in the literature showed a wide variation especially due to the different kind of material behaviour that has been considered in the analyses. The present solution as well as the other solutions showed large deviations from the measured values of maximum wall movement, backfill surface settlement and strains in the reinforcement. In this paper the details of the study are presented. Large deviation of the predicted behaviour from the observed values shows that the development of a predictive model taking into consideration of the interaction of soil-reinforcement and its effect on the behaviour of a reinforced soil wall using FEM is still open and calls for further research.