Investigation on failure mechanism of nailed soil slopes under surcharge loading: testing and analysis

摘要

This paper presents the laboratory test results of nailed soil slopes to study the behaviour of reinforced slopes under surcharge load. Tests were conducted on nailed soil slopes of three different slope angles (β = 30°, 45°and 60°) and nail inclinations (i = 0°, 15° and 30°). Each slope is reinforced with a number of hollow aluminium nails placed in three rows. The failure response, load-settlement, nail forces at the centre of nails and the distribution of nail forces along the length are examined during the tests. The numerical simulation of the model tests is performed by a 3-D finite element program. The numerical results are found in agreement to the corresponding experimental results. It is observed that the nails inclined at 0° to the horizontal give the maximum improvement in the load carrying capacity of the slopes followed closely by the 15° nail inclination. The maximum nail forces are observed in the topmost row of nails and decreases with the depth. The distribution of the nail forces along the nail are also found to be varying with respect to the failure surface of the slopes.