Measured and Predicted Stresses and Bearing Capacity of a Full Scale Slope Reinforced with Nails

Abstract

The aim of the present paper is to analyse the mechanical behaviour of a steep slope reinforced with nails, using continuum mechanics approach. First, a short description of the nailed structure and a method of nailing are presented. Then, a continuum elastic theory of reinforced soil is applied to predict stresses in the reinforcement. The soil is assumed to be uniformly reinforced in the nails direction. The soil and the reinforcement are assumed to work together, i. e. slippage on the interfaces between both constituents is neglected. It is also assumed that both constituents coexist at every point of the material, so the reinforced soil can be treated as a macroscopically homogeneous material which is transversally isotropic. The macroscopic behaviour of reinforced soil is described by the mechanical properties of constituents, their partial fractions and geometrical arrangement. Respective formulas are presented and then the boundary value problem formulated and solved with the help of finite element method, for the data corresponding to the real field problem. The theoretical predictions are compared with experimental data obtained from the field measurements on a full scale slope reinforced with nails. A brief description of the limit plasticity approach to the problem of bearing capacity of reinforced soil structures is presented and its application to the analysis of field measurements described. Again, the theoretical predictions are compared with experimental data. It seems, that in both cases, a reasonably good agreement between theory and experiment has been obtained.