Determination of shear stress-shear strain behavior of polymeric geostrip reinforced MSE wall

Abstract

In this paper, the shear strain-dependent dynamic response properties of a retaining wall model made of mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) with polymeric geostrip material are investigated in a 1-g shaking table test. The values of lateral displacements and accelerations measured at different points along the MSE wall surface were used to evaluate the equivalent hysteris loops. The effect of reinforcement stiffness and backfill slope angle on the equivalent shear stiffness modulus (Ge) and damping ratio (D) were investigated. The experimental results show that the variation of shear stiffness modulus and damping ratio as a function of shear strain (γ) is affected by vertical pressure (σv), but the effect of the stiffness of the polymeric geostrip on the damping ratio is negligible. The variations of the Ge, Ge/σv, Ge/Gmax, and D as a function of γ are expressed in exponential equations with high least squares values in this study.