Alexandria Engineering Journal (May 2022)
Pressure distribution lawon vertical plate of cellular-counterfort retaining structure
Abstract
The cellular-counterfort retaining structure, which combines cellular retaining wall with counterfort retaining wall, can effectively increase the height of backfilled retaining walls, and boast a broad prospect in earthwork projects. In the presence of the rib plates of counterfort retaining wall, the soil pressure on the vertical plate of the cellular-counterfort retaining structure is not uniformly distributed in the horizontal direction. The distribution model and size of the pressure directly affects the structural calculation. Through mathematical analysis, the fill between rib plates was divided into horizontal layers. Considering the friction between the fill counterfort in the counterfort section and the soil stripes, the authors derived the soil pressure formulas on the vertical and bottom plates of the cellular-counterfort retaining structure. Through centrifuge model test, the authors discussed the distribution law of soil pressure on the vertical plate of the cellular-counterfort retaining structure, and the influence of counterfort interval on soil pressure. The results show that: The soil pressure at the midspan of the vertical plate between counterforts increased linearly with the depth, and the soil pressure near the counterforts increased from the top to middle and then gradually decreased from the middle to the bottom of the wall. On the side of vertical plate, the soil pressure obeyed the parabola distribution in the wall length direction, i.e., the pressure was smaller on the two ends than in the middle; the soil pressure on the bottom plate decreased with the distance to the vertical plate. The counterfort had an obvious frictional reduction effect on the soil pressure from the fill to the vertical plate, and the effect became increasingly obvious with the growing depth; the effect was weakened when the counterfort spacing increased. The centrifugal model test verified the reasonability of the proposed formulas for the soil pressures in the cellular-counterfort retaining structure.
