Comparison of Existing Lateral Earth Pressure Theories with FEM Software for Braced Deep Excavations and Its Design Implication
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Date
2015-10
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
This thesis presents the comparison of existing lateral earth pressure theories and results of earth pressures found from finite element software Plaxis (2D) for braced cuts for different soil samples. In addition to this, the comparison of deformation, ground surface settlement, bending moment and factor of safety of braced cut structures for different samples are studied.
To study the behavior of braced cuts, different models were developed and analyzed using existing theories and Plaxis software. This was accomplished by parametric study conducted on a number of alternative arrangements of variables under consideration.
The parametric study indicates that increasing the spacing of struts and decreasing the stiffness of struts increases the lateral pressure. On the other hand, increasing or decreasing depth of embedment and stiffness of sheet pile do not have significant influence on lateral pressure.
Finally, the comparison of existing lateral earth pressure theories and Plaxis (2D) indicates that existing pressure theories especially Terzaghi’s and Peck’s theories overestimate lateral pressure. In addition to this, strut loads, bending moments, sheet pile wall deformation and ground surface settlement calculated from existing theories are larger than these obtained from Plaxis (2D).
Key words: Deep excavation, Finite element, Plaxis 2D, strut loads, ground surface settlement
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Keywords
Deep excavation;Finite element;Plaxis 2D; strut loads; ground surface settlement