FEM simulation of the failure of reinforced sand slopes subjected to footing load

The results from a series of laboratory model tests on unreinforced sand slopes and those reinforced with reinforcing strips that were brought to bearing capacity failure by vertical and central loading using a rigid strip footing placed on the slope crest were simulated numerically by the FEM. In the FEM analysis, the effects of the following factors were taken into account: (a) confining pressure; (b) anisotropy; (c) non-linear pre-peak strain-hardening and strain-softening; (d) dilatancy; and (e) strain localisation into a shear band or bands having a thickness in proportional to the particle size. The FEM simulation for both unreinforced and reinforced sand slopes was generally in good agreement with the physical experimental results with respect to the load-settlement relationships, the strain fields showing failure modes, and the distributions of reinforcement tensile force for the different reinforcement arrangements examined. The stress fields from the FEM analysis are also presented.