Numerical Analysis of the Effect of Surcharge on the Mechanical Behavior of Geocell Reinforced Retaining Wall

Abstract

Geocell reinforced retaining structure has been widely used in civil engineering for the protection of slopes due to its advantages. In this paper, the effects of surcharge on the horizontal displacement of the wall back, the size of the sliding wedge and the factor of safety of geocell reinforced retaining wall are numerically analyzed by employing the geotechnical finite element method software Plaxis. The research results show that, when the distance of surcharge from the wall face is small, the maximum and the minimum deformation of the wall back takes place near the top of the wall and the wall bottom respectively. After the distance of surcharge from the wall face exceeds about 13% of the wall height, the surcharge has little effect on the horizontal deformation of the wall back, the size of the sliding wedge and the safety factor of geocell reinforced retaining wall. The horizontal deformation of the wall back gradually increases with the increase of the length of the surcharge until it reaches a certain value. The effect of the length of the surcharge on the failure surface is not significant. Besides, the factor of safety of the wall gradually decreases with the increase of length of the surcharge. However, with the increase of the distance of the surcharge from the wall face, the influence of the length of the surcharge on the safety factor gradually becomes small. The study results can supplement theoretical basis for the design of geocell reinforced retaining walls in engineering practices.