Studying the effect of geometrical nail layout on the performance of soil-nailed walls: Physical and numerical modeling

Soil nailing is a reliable method of stabilising earth and rock slopes, but the geometrical layout of soil nails has not been well studied. The current research examined the effect of the geometrical layout of soil nails using analytical and physical modelling. The results of limit equilibrium analysis for different nail layouts are presented. The target gravity level was 50 g for centrifuge models and all models had a safety factor of 1.35 at this level. The parameters studied were base nail length, angle of nail tail extension, horizontal spacing of nails, and nail density. The limit equilibrium results showed that, when longer nails were used, the nail density could be decreased. The results of centrifuge modelling confirmed that different layouts at a similar safety factor did not show similar levels of displacement. Also, nail density was the most influential parameter affecting soil-nailed wall performance. An empirical relationship was observed between displacements of the wall crest and nail density. An interesting similarity was observed between the predicted slip surface and the slip surface that formed during physical modelling. ARTICLE INFO