Numerical investigation of the static behavior of stepped soil nail walls

Abstract

This paper presents a numerical investigation into the static behavior of stepped soil nail walls constructed in dry sandy soils. The nite element method was used to study in uence of wall geometry and soil parameters on behavior of the walls. We analyzed walls with heights of 10, 15, and 20 m. This study shows that the wall deformation and the nail tensile forces of the stepped soil nail wall are smaller than those of the typical soil nail wall. If properties of soils such as friction angle, cohesion, and elastic modulus decrease, more decrease in the wall lateral displacement and nail tensile forces of a stepped soil nail wall would occur. Therefore, stepped soil nail walls are more e ective in soft soils than in hard soils. When a step is located at the middle of the wall height, the wall lateral displacement and nail tensile forces are minimized; hence, the ratio of the optimal step depth to the wall height is 0.5. As the step width increases, the wall deformation and nail forces decrease. Numerical analysis demonstrates that the minimum step width is approximately 0.1 times the wall height.