LOAD TEST AND VERIFICATION OF FULL-SCALE MODEL GEOTEXTILE-REINFORCED SOIL WALL, TAKING INTO CONSIDERATION THREE-DIMENSIONAL POSITIONING OF REINFORCING MATERIAL

Abstract

Use of geotextile-reinforced soil walls is growing rapidly. However, while the current design technique stipulates a 2D geotextile positioning method, there are no clear stipulations for a positioning method taking into account the benefits of 3D reinforcement, nor has much research been conducted on the subject. As a first step to establishing the optimal 3D positioning method, we conducted load tests on a full-scale model of a reinforced soil wall 4m high and 8m wide, examining the mechanism of 3D reinforcement and using 3D elasto-plastic finite element method analysis to verify the results. Two positioning methods were tested, a rectangular arrangement and a zigzag arrangement. The results of experiments and verification by analysis showed that, compared to a rectangular arrangement, a zigzag arrangement better contains warping, etc., by reducing shear strain and suchlike in the reinforcement fill and thus enhancing the stability of the reinforced soil wall.