Thermal Effects on the Stability of Geosynthetic Reinforced Soil Walls
Fei Zhang, W. Ji, Yufeng Gao, Dov Leshchinsky, Farshid Vahedifard
Abstract
Elevated temperatures driven by surface thermal fluctuations can significantly affect the hydromechanical behavior of soils, particularly near the surface, thereby influencing the performance of earth structures such as geosynthetic reinforced soil (GRS) walls. This study develops an analytical framework to evaluate the stability of GRS walls under varying temperature conditions, providing new insights into the complex interactions between temperature variation and wall performance. For this purpose, a temperature-dependent effective stress model under steady-state flow conditions is integrated into a limit equilibrium-based analytical approach (i.e., the top-down procedure) to calculate the distribution of required reinforcement tension across each layer at different temperatures. The accuracy of the proposed framework is verified through comparison with existing numerical and analytical solutions, as well as centrifuge testing available in the literature. The model is then used in a series of parametric simulations to examine the impact of temperature on wall stability. Results show that temperature variation has a pronounced effect on GRS walls with marginal backfills (i.e., those with high fines content) while walls constructed with cohesionless soils containing low fines content exhibit minimal response. For marginal backfills such as clayey sand and clayey silt, both the required reinforcement strength and length tend to decrease as the temperature increases. The study also shows that the upper-middle portion of the wall is most sensitive to temperature fluctuations. Moreover, the endpoints of the tensioned reinforcement zones may evolve into potential failure surfaces under prolonged thermal cycling. These findings offer valuable guidance for improving the design and long-term stability of GRS walls in thermally dynamic environments.