Friction at upper and lower faces and tension in reinforcing sheets

Abstract

The friction on the upper and lower faces of the reinforcing mats were obtained by analyzing a reinforced retaining wall and an embankment with steep slope. The retaining wall had inextensible steel mesh and sand as backfill. The embankment had extensible HDPE geogrid and cohesive soil as backfill, and left about 5 months through the rainy season. Generally speaking, friction on the upper face acts in the forward direction and the friction under the lower face acts in the backward direction, and their distribution are not the same. The difference between the upper and lower faces results in the tension of the mat. The friction near the face of the wall acts in the forward direction. Soil constants related to deformation are closely related to not only stability but also deformation of the the retaining walls. Thus, the possibility of establishing new dsign methods for providing deformation of the retaining walls by taking into account of soil constants during and after the construction is discussed.