Design of MSE retaining walls placed in front of a stable face

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dc.contributor.advisorWright, Stephen G. (Stephen Gailord), 1943-
dc.creatorKniss, Kenneth Thomas
dc.date.accessioned2017-04-11T14:30:06Z
dc.date.available2017-04-11T14:30:06Z
dc.date.issued2007-08
dc.description.abstractWidening of existing highways often results in new mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) walls being placed in front of existing stable walls. The design of these walls is unique because limited right-of-way often forces the length of the reinforcing strips to be shorter than normally used. As MSE walls are placed in more confined space, the stresses behind the wall are also different from those behind conventional walls. The Plaxis finite element software was used to study the vertical and horizontal stresses in the backfill behind nondeformable walls constructed in a confined space. The vertical stresses were found to be less than the computed overburden pressure. A vertical stress influence factor was introduced to describe the reduced vertical stresses which also are influenced both by the depth below the top of the wall and by the wall aspect ratio. Horizontal earth pressures were found to be less than those calculated using the current design guidelines for nondeformable walls constructed in a confined space. A chart which may be used to adjust the horizontal earth pressures for these walls was developed. Limit equilibrium analyses were also performed to evaluate the effect of wall aspect ratio on the stability of "narrow" MSE walls. Based on the analyses, factors of safety for noncircular slip surfaces were found to be significantly less than factors of safety for circular slip surfaces. Accordingly, analyses employing noncircular slip surfaces are recommended for all MSE walls placed in front of existing stable faces.en_US
dc.description.departmentCivil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineeringen_US
dc.format.mediumelectronicen_US
dc.identifierdoi:10.15781/T24Q7QV9F
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2152/46395
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.relation.ispartofUT Electronic Theses and Dissertationsen_US
dc.rightsCopyright © is held by the author. Presentation of this material on the Libraries' web site by University Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin was made possible under a limited license grant from the author who has retained all copyrights in the works.en_US
dc.rights.restrictionRestricteden_US
dc.subjectMechanically stabilized earth (MSE) wallsen_US
dc.subjectVertical stressesen_US
dc.subjectHorizontal earth pressuresen_US
dc.titleDesign of MSE retaining walls placed in front of a stable faceen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
dc.type.genreThesisen_US
thesis.degree.departmentCivil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineeringen_US
thesis.degree.disciplineCivil Engineeringen_US
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Texas at Austinen_US
thesis.degree.levelMastersen_US
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Scienceen_US

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