Deformation analysis of geosynthetics-reinforced soil retaining wall considering coupling effects of reinforcement creep and temperature

By analyzing the existing creep test results and creep properties of geosynthetics, a constitutive model for reinforcement considering creep and temperature is estublished. Using the 2D-thermal transfer control equation, the finite difference formula is proposed to calculate the temperature in the geosynthetics-reinforced soil (GRS) retaining wall, and then the lateral deformations of the face of GRS wall and the maximum reinforcement strains are determined via the calculated temperature and the constitutive model. Subsequently, a comprehensive study is carried out to investigate the effects of the initial temperature, temperature amplitude, vertical spacing of reinforcement, surcharge, in-frictional angle and thermal conductivity of backfills on the deformation and reinforcement strains. The results show that the elevated temperature after construction causes the significant increase of the lateral deformations of face and reinforcement strains, and then the variation of deformation decreases with the elapsed time. Increasing the initial temperature induces the remarkable increase in the lateral deformation at the very beginning, whereas the long-term deformation increases with the increase of the temperature amplitude. Increasing the surcharge on the top surface or vertical spacing, or reducing the in-frictional angle of backfills results in obvious increase of the lateral deformations. In addition, the thermal conductivity of backfills has small effects on the lateral deformations of face and the maximum reinforcement strains. Under the action of cyclic ambient temperature, the ratio of the maximum lateral deformation to the wall height, δ_max/H, falls in the range of 0.9% to 1.5%, and the maximum reinforcement strains, which occurr adjacent to the face of the retaining wall, reach almost 10% of the limited value. Thus, it is necessary to pay more attention to the effects of the long-term properties of reinforcement near the wall face on the deformation and stability of the GRS walls.