ABSTRACT
This study presents results of a centrifuge model test on performance of geogrid-strip reinforced soil walls (GSRSWs) with low-permeable backfill under the destabilizing effects of rainfall. A rigid-facing GSRSW at coverage ratio of 0.5 was tested at 40g using custom-designed in-flight rainfall simulator and large beam centrifuge facility at IIT Bombay. The model wall simulates a 10 m high wall at 40g. Pore pressure transducers were used to monitor the development of phreatic surfaces during rainfall. Digital image analysis was adopted to determine wall crest settlements, face deformations and strains mobilized in the geogrid-strip layers. The GSRSW underwent a catastrophic failure within 10.24 days (prototype-scale) of continuous rainfall. The maximum wall face movement and crest settlement increased with rainfall, at the penultimate stage they were 0.12- and 0.09-times height of the wall, respectively. The maximum face deformation was observed at a normalized height (z/H) of 0.51, and a peak reinforcement strain of about 29% at a z/H of 0.56. Further study is proposed to comprehensively evaluate the performance of GSRSWs.
