ABSTRACT
Mechanically Stabilized Earth (MSE) retaining systems have become increasingly popular because they combine resilience with cost effectiveness and low environmental impact. Their capacity in lateral loading (pull-out resistance) is a critical design parameter, especially in cases where seismic loading has to be considered. The pull-out test is a very efficient method to identify this parameter and has become common practice at least for the purpose of designing important infrastructure. The paper presents a modern pull-out testing device recently constructed at the laboratory of soil mechanics in the National Technical University of Athens. Results from a series of preliminary pull-out tests on steel meshes embedded in dense sand, as well as accompanying parametric numerical analyses, are shown to discuss the critical effects of: soil dilatancy, top boundary rigidity, and friction upon lateral boundaries. Discussion focuses on effective means to appropriately resolve these effects and increase the reliability of results.
