Stability analysis of geocell-reinforced retaining walls

Geocell-reinforced retaining walls are widely used in engineering practice due to their advantages of light weight, simple construction, low environmental impact and aesthetics. However, limited studies can be found on the failure mechanisms and method of stability analysis for this type of earth structure. In this study, limit equilibrium analysis to predict the global stability of geocell-reinforced retaining walls is conducted. The results indicate that the classical Rankine and Coulomb theories of earth pressure are not suitable for analyzing the stability of geocell-reinforced retaining walls. Instead, the failure mechanisms of geocell-reinforced retaining walls are similar to those of slopes. The general limit equilibrium method, with an assumption of a polygonal failure surface and assisted by the improved Monte Carlo searching technique, may reproduce the critical failure surface. The analyzed factor of safety along the critical failure surface may be somewhat higher than the actual one; this difference is related to the soil density and progressive failure of soil along the critical failure surface. The effectiveness of the analytical approach is validated by two sets of model tests. It is shown that the stability of geocell-reinforced retaining walls may be analyzed by the general limit equilibrium method, provided that the apparent cohesion of geocell-reinforced soil is accurately estimated and the shape of the critical failure surface is properly assumed.