Analysis of the influence of reinforcement material type on bearing and deformation characteristics of reinforced earth retaining wall

This paper is to investigate the influence of reinforcement material types on the bearing and deformation characteristics of reinforced earth retaining wall. A series of large-scale static and dynamic model tests were carried out. Some characteristic parameters of the geogrid- and geocell-reinforced earth retaining walls were analyzed, such as additional vertical earth pressure, vertical settlement, lateral deformation, and dynamic acceleration response. The test results show that the ultimate bearing capacity of the geogrid-reinforced earth retaining wall was 2.5 times as much as that of geocell-reinforced earth retaining wall. And the maximum lateral displacement of the geogrid-reinforced earth retaining wall was only 0.1 of the geocell-reinforced earth retaining wall. Compared with the geocell-reinforced earth retaining wall, the geogrid-reinforced earth retaining wall has higher bearing capacity and resistance to deformation. Compared with geocell, geogrid has a stronger homogenization effect on the vertical pressure inside the reinforced earth retaining wall. However, under the same load conditions, the peak acceleration of soil within the geocell-reinforced earth retaining wall is smaller than that of the geogrid-reinforced earth retaining wall. Additionally, based on the assumption of null volumetric strain, a new Adams maximum lateral displacement correction model was proposed. The error between the predicted value and the measured value of the maximum lateral displacement of the geogrid-reinforced earth retaining wall is within 10%, which shows that the model has a good prediction.