Cohesive soil retaining walls reinforced with geotextile

Centrifuge model tests were performed to study the behavior of soil retaining walls reinforced with a nonwoven geotextile simulant and backfilled with cohesive soil. Models were constructed on either firm or rigid foundations reinforced with different lengths of reinforcement,and loaded to failure under increasing self weight in the geotechnical centrifuge. Two modes of failure, designated as overturning and rotational sliding, were identified in this study. The reinforced models on firm foundations showed higher prototype equivalent heights at failure compare to the identical models with rigid foundations. A limit equilibrium stability analysis incorporating tangential or horizontal reinforcement was carried out to predict the behavior of the model walls.