Deformation Analyses of Gabion Structures

This study proposed a numerical procedure to simulate the deformation behaviors of the uniaxial compression test of single gabion and of the lateral loading test of full scale gabion retaining wall. The validity of the numerical procedures is verified by the comparison of the measurements with the simulations of deformation behavior. In addition, two evaluation equations which are capable of estimating the horizontal and the vertical displacement of the front face of laterally loaded gabion structure are presented for engineering practice. The numerical results indicates the deformation mode of a loaded gabion structure can be effectively captured in numerical model when incorporating a structural beam element with limit axial stiffness and relatively low or zero flexural stiffness. It is also found that the apparent total shear modulus of gabion structure, which has taken the compound shear deformation behavior of wire mesh and infilled stone into account, should be adopted in numerical modeling instead of using the shear modulus of infilled stone itself.