The Effect of Displacement Mode of Rigid Retaining Walls on Shearing Bands by Active Earth Pressure

This  work  treats  the  physical  modeling  of  failure mechanisms  by  active  earth  pressure.  This  last  is  developed  by 
retaining  wall  movement.  A  lot  of  research  showed  that  wall displacement has a significant effect on active earth pressure.

A good comprehension of active earth pressure phenomenon and its failure  mechanisms  help  us  to  better  conceive  retaining  walls. The conception of a small-scale model allowed the realization of active  earth  pressure  tests,  while  displacing  the  mobile  wall toward the outside of the massif. The studied material is that of Schneebeli;  light  two-dimensional  material  made  of  cylindrical plastic   rollers,   simulating   granular   non-cohesive   soil.   The evolution of shearing zones under continuous and discontinuous displacement  modes  of  mobile  walls  by  correlation  pictures allows  the  investigation  of  the  localization  of  deformations  and failure mechanisms.