Protective Construction with Reinforced Earth

The objective of this research is to develop a simple analytical method that characterizes plane shock wave propagation through reinforced earth and the dynamic interaction with modular retaining wall panels. The shock wave was initiated as a velocity boundary condition. The exact solution was obtained by the Laplace transform method. A step-by-step design procedure based on the "limit state" concept is proposed. Because of the impulsive nature of ground shock. the maximum response of the wall panel and reinforced soil system depends mainly on the capacity and rate of energy absorption and dissipation of the system. Therefore, the connection between wall panels and soil reinforcement, and soil reinforcement itself should be ductile beyond the proportional limit. Furthermore, the soil reinforcement should possess a high elastic tensile modulus to minimize the wall panel displacement.