Finite element modeling of the arching effect in retaining walls made of soil-cement columns.

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Deep Mixing is increasingly applied for the construction of retaining structures. The working principle of a soil mix wall with a retaining function is mainly based on the development of an arching effect through the soil mix material to transmit the earth and water pressures, acting behind the retaining wall, to the steel beams inserted in the fresh soil mix material during execution. Example calculations of the arching effect in Plaxis 2D have recently been provided for rectangular panels in the BBRI/SBRCURnet Handbook - Soil mix walls, referred as the handbook in the present paper. Nevertheless, there is a lack of information regarding the transmission of the forces inside a wall made of soil-cement columns. The present paper describes finite element models of this kind of wall, implemented to illustrate the way the forces are internally transmitted, considering the ground anchors ensuring the horizontal stability of the wall and the steel beams ensuring its bending resistance. A comparison is also made between numerical results of a model, at a depth without ground anchor, and the analytical solutions proposed in the handbook for the verification of the soil mix walls in agreement with the Eurocodes. If the results are comparable, a significant difference is still observed for the maximal compressive stress computed in the middle of the pressure arch.