Interaction between Drilled Shaft and Mechanically Stablilized Earth (MSE) Wall: Technical Report
Author(s):
J. Briaud, M. Sanchez Castilla, M. Aghahadi Forooshani, G. Bi, J. Huang
Publication Date:
April 2017
Abstract:
Drilled shafts are being constructed within the reinforced zone of mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) walls especially in the case of overpass bridges where the drilled shafts carry the bridge deck or traffic signs. The interaction between the drilled shaft and the MSE wall is not well known and not typically incorporated into the design. As part of the research project, a full-scale test was conducted in 2012 at Texas A&M University.
The test was performed on an MSE wall where the backfill material was clean sand and the soil reinforcement was made of metal strips. Also two real projects were instrumented during construction, and data were gathered for one year. A numerical model was used and calibrated against the results of the three full-scale cases. Then a sensitivity analysis was performed and 64 numerical cases were modeled to understand the effect of different parameters on the interaction between the MSE wall and the drilled shaft. The data from the simulations, the full-scale test results, and the monitoring of the real site were processed, and a modification of the current guidelines was proposed for the case where there is a drilled shaft subjected to a horizontal load in the reinforced zone of the MSE wall. A design chart is presented to take into account the additional pressure on the wall created by the drilled shaft.
Report Number:
0-6715-1
Electronic Link(s):
Document/Product
http://tti.tamu.edu/documents/0-6715-1.pdf
Publication/Product Request
TTI reports and products are available for download at no charge. If an electronic version is not available and no instructions on how to obtain it are given, contact the TTI Library.