Distribution of Stresses in Narrow Mechanically Stabilized Earth Retaining Walls

Abstract

Mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) walls have been increasingly used in civil engineering applications, such as highways, bridge abutments, and service roads. In certain areas, the width of the backfill for MSE wall construction is limited. According to the literature, the mechanism of MSE walls constructed in narrow backfill width differs from that with sufficient backfill width; hence the magnitude and distribution of stresses in MSE walls with limited backfill width are different. This study presented the vertical and horizontal stresses of two laboratory model tests of narrow MSE walls subjected to strip loading. The stresses measured in laboratory models were compared with calculated stresses using analytical methods. In addition, this study modified the 2:1 stress distribution method (TSD) by considering wall-soil friction effects to calculate the stress distribution in narrow MSE walls under static footing loading. Laboratory experimental results indicated that the measured stresses decreased with increasing depth of the wall models, but increased with applied loading. Accuracy and improvement of the modified TSD method were assessed with the experimental test results and compared with various existing methods. The results of the calculations indicated that the modified method well predicts the distribution of stresses in narrow MSW walls