A METHOD OF EXAMINING INTERNAL STABILITY OF BEARING REINFORCEMENT EARTH (BRE) WALL
Keywords:
Bearing reinforcement earth wall, internal stability, possible failure plane, lateral earth, pressure coefficientAbstract
The bearing reinforcement has been in practice in Thailand since 2007 as a cost-effective earthreinforcement for a mechanically stabilized earth wall. The reinforcement is composed of a longitudinalmember and transverse (bearing) members. The longitudinal member is made of a deformed bar,which exhibits a high pullout friction resistance. The transverse members are a set of equal angles,which provide high pullout bearing resistance. Based on the full-scale test results on the performanceof the bearing reinforcement (BRE) wall, it is found that the possible failure plane of the BRE wallcan be approximated using the coherent gravity structure hypothesis. The horizontal stress on thereinforcement can be computed by multiplying the vertical stress by the lateral earth pressurecoefficient, K. At the top of the BRE wall, the K value is close to the at-rest earth pressure coefficient,K0. This K value decreases linearly with depth and is equal to the active earth pressure coefficient,Ka, at 6 m depth. Both the possible failure plane and the relationship between K and wall depthinvestigated are typical of walls with inextensible reinforcements. From this full-scale observation,a limit equilibrium method for examination of the internal stability of the BRE wall is proposed.
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