Application design of concrete canvas (CC) in soil reinforced structure

Abstract

Concrete canvas (CC for short), which is a flexible cement powder impregnated fabric that hardens on hydration to form a thin, durable water proof and fire-resistant concrete layer, has been used in slope protection, and CC may also have widely potential application in retaining wall structure. This article presents the design methodology for the CC-faced reinforced soil retaining wall structure according to the mechanical properties of CC. The result demonstrates that carbon nanotube (CNT) modified ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) unidirectional fabric reinforced CC can be applied to the reinforced soil retaining wall with a height of between 3 m and 10 m, and reasonable spacing of reinforcements is 0.5 ∼ 1 m. In addition, the connection between the reinforcement and CC wall can be safely against bearing capacity failure. Finally, the results of a FEM parametric study indicate that the horizontal displacement of CC is a little large (about 20 mm @ 6 m height retaining wall). Relative large maximum displacement of the CC wall indicates that the high stiffness reinforcement should be used to reduce the overall horizontal displacement of the wall.