Analysis of Retaining Wall Built Near Rock Face for Different Wall Movements

Abstract

When a retaining wall is built in front of a stable rock face or an existing wall (constraint), it may have to retain a limited width of backfill. In these circumstances, it leads to retaining wall with backfill narrower than design guidelines and termed as a retaining wall with “Narrow” backfill. Conventional earth-pressure theories are not applicable for analyzing such retaining structures. The present study analyses the effect of sliding, overturning of the wall about bottom and top on earth pressure acting on the retaining wall for different widths of backfill using finite element analysis. After precise validation of the developed numerical model with existing centrifuge test results, the proposed study presents the behavior of retaining wall for adopted modes of wall movement. It reveals that active lateral thrust acting on the wall is observed to be maximum when the wall overturns about the top. The effect of backfill width on earth-pressure for different wall movements is presented. The point of action of lateral thrust is observed to be about mid-height of the wall when wall overturns about top. It is found that interface friction plays a vital role in the analysis of retaining walls with narrow backfill. The obtained failure envelopes are compared with the limit equilibrium method. © 2021, Indian Geotechnical Society.