Description

Abstract: Back-to-back mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) walls can sustain significant loadings
and deformations due to the interaction mechanisms which occur between the backfill material and
reinforcement elements. These walls are commonly used in embankments approaching bridges,
ramps, and railways. The performance of a reinforced wall depends on numerous factors, including
those defining the soil, the reinforcement, and the soil/reinforcement interaction behavior. The
focus of this study is to investigate the behavior of back-to-back mechanically stabilized earth walls
considering synthetic and metallic strips. A two-dimensional finite difference numerical modeling is
considered. The role of the soil friction angle, the distance of the reinforcement elements, the walls
width to height ratio, and the quality of the soil material are investigated in a parametric study. Their
effects on the critical failure surface, shear displacements, wall displacements, and tensile forces on
the reinforcements are presented. The interaction between back-to-back reinforced walls strongly
depends on the distance between walls and modifies the critical failure surface location.

Date Conducted

July 2021

Contributors

Khashayar Malekmohammadi, Seyed Hamid Lajevardi, Daniel Dias