| The construction of reinforced soil walls on soft ground such as cohesive soil (a soil type found[*]extensively in Japan) often involves ground improvement up to the firm load-bearing layers using techniques such as the deep mixing method. Manuals on reinforced soil wall construction stipulate limits for wall displacement、 but contain no provisions concerning settlement. However、 due to environmental factors such as efforts to reduce construction costs and shift toward performance-based design for earth structures、 ground improvement techniques that allow certain amounts of settlement are expected to be needed in the future. [*]For ground improvement that constrains the deformation behavior of reinforced soil walls、 this study focused on two methods . one in which the ground immediately below reinforced soil walls is made to float (referred to here as floating-type ground improvement) and one combining improved soil slabs with partially settled rectangular improved soil (referred to here as partial-settlement ground improvement). Centrifuge model testing was implemented to ascertain the deformation behavior of reinforced soil walls constructed using these ground improvement techniques. The stress state of partial-settlement ground improvement was also studied using FEM analysis. |
