Effects of facing, reinforcement stiffness, toe resistance, and height on reinforced walls

This study numerically investigated the combined effect of reinforcement and facing stiffness, wall height, and toe resistance on the behavior of reinforced soil (RS) walls under working stress conditions. For RS walls with vertical segmental block facing, parametric analyses showed that the combined effect of the facing stiffness, wall height, and toe resistance on the distribution of the maximum reinforcement load with depth may be limited to approximately 4 m above the base of the wall. Furthermore, the shape of the distribution of the reinforcement load may be a function of the combined effect of the wall height, reinforcement stiffness, toe resistance, and facing stiffness. For a given facing stiffness and fixed-base conditions, increasing the height of the wall and reinforcement stiffness may change the distribution shape of the reinforcement load from trapezoidal to the triangular. Additionally, the maximum reinforcement loads calculated using finite element analyses were compared to the values predicted by design methods found in the literature. Some limitations of those design procedures are presented and discussed.