Mechanical Performance Analysis of Reinforced Soil Walls with Flexible/Rigid Facings

A three-dimensional numerical modelling of a reinforced soil retaining wall (RSW) with flexible/rigid facings was established based on the results of centrifugal model tests. The influence of different anchor embedded depths, anchor stiffness, vertical spacing of anchor layers,reinforcement stiffness, reinforcement length, and wall height on the mechanical performance of the wall under the surcharge loads was analyzed. The results show that the bearing ratio by the anchors is little affected by anchor embedded depth, reinforcement stiffness, anchor layer spacing, and reinforcement length, but increases significantly with the anchor stiffness. The horizontal forces acting on the combined wall facings increase with the wall height and can be calculated according to the Rankine active earth pressure theory. When the wall is under working stress conditions, the load undertaken by the anchors increases with the ratio of the anchor stiffness to the reinforcement stiffness, and when the stiffness ratio exceeds 8.6, the bearing ratio by the anchors reaches about 60% and then tends to be stable.