Study of the behavior of an instrumented soil nail wall in Salvador-Brazil

This paper aims to analyze the behavior of a soil-nailed excavation located in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. Numerical stress-strain modeling was conducted, using finite element method. The horizontal displacement profiles obtained for the wall face in the numerical analysis presented a good correlation compared to field instrumentation monitoring with inclinometers. The results showed that the magnitude of the maximum numerical and experimental displacements was lower than the simplified models recommended by international manuals and technical literature. However, the monitoring data was compatible with other cases of instrumented nailed excavations in silt-sandy soil in the city of Salvador. Numerical models also adequately represented the distribution of tensile forces in nails. The maximum tensile forces observed numerically were smaller than those calculated using analytical methods. It was emphasized that the results of field monitoring and numerical models correspond to a stage immediately after the end of the retaining structure execution, not considering the evolution of deformations in long term.