Simulation and numerical back analysis of the load redistribution associated with degrading anchored structures

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The essential role of anchored structures in ensuring the availability and safety of infrastructure routes in Alpine regions emphasises the significance of conducting regular condition assessments. These assessments are crucial for ensuring the reliability (durability, serviceability and load-bearing capacity) of such structures over their intended service life but represent challenging interdisciplinary tasks for engineers. In particular, assessing the condition of ground anchors and identifying potential damage to these elements is challenging yet of utmost importance for providing a reliable statement on the (remaining) load-bearing capacity. Currently, there is a lack of guidelines and regulations on how to deal with a reduced load-bearing capacity (or even failure) of ground anchors and how such damage patterns affect the reliability of the structure. This paper presents (planned) medium-scale laboratory tests investigating the load redistribution behaviour resulting from anchor failure in defective anchored structures. During the failure simulation, various measurements are performed to determine the load transfer and the load redistribution in the structure itself as well as in the retained soil body. Apart from deformation and force measurements, a novel earth pressure measuring system is introduced. This system allows horizontal loads to be recorded over almost the entire surface of the earth-facing side of the wall. Additionally, preliminary three-dimensional numerical analyses of the laboratory tests are presented. By validating these numerical models against the experimental results for large-scale numerical studies, some future recommendations on how to deal with degrading anchored structures should be given.

5th European Conference on Physical Modelling in Geotechnics (ECPMG2024)

Geotechnical infrastructure