Performance of cement-stabilized retaining walls

Abstract

This paper investigates the performance of a cement-stabilized retaining wall as a potentially economic solution for supporting vertical cuts in roads and embankments. This investigation was carried out through a comprehensive numerical and experimental program in which the stabilized wall was treated as a c′–ϕ soil. To optimize the design of the stabilized wall, a plane-strain finite element analysis was carried out, using the PLAXIS code, in a parametric study that varied the wall geometry and the shear strength parameters for both the wall and its surrounding soil. The performance of the stabilized retaining wall was verified by a centrifuge model test carried out at an equivalent acceleration of 67g for a sand treated with 3% Portland cement. The results have shown that the load-carrying capacity of the wall is affected primarily by both the cementation of the wall and the friction angle of the surrounding soil. There exists a threshold of cementation beyond which the stability does not increase when the failure mechanism is located completely inside the in situ soil. This critical cementation appears to be a crucial factor in maintaining an economic design for this type of wall. Centrifuge test results confirmed the satisfactory behaviour of cement-stabilized retaining walls.Key words: cement stabilization, retaining wall, cohesion, finite element, centrifuge testing.