Abstract

Based on the nonlinear finite element method, the basic characters of road engineering reinforced with back berm are studied. It is found that there is no influence on maximal vertical settlement and distribution of vertical settlement in the scope of original embankment by back berm, only the vertical settlement of foundation under back berm enlarged by back berm. The lateral displacement of embankment could be reduced by back berm, which reduced further by width of back berm enlarged. The stability of embankment increased rapidly with the width of back berm enlarged. But when the width of back berm reach a critical value, the stability of embankment is no more increased with the width of back berm enlarged. In order to utilize land effectively, the width of back berm should not be bigger than the critical value. The critical value of width of back berm could be calculated with the corresponding parameters of road engineering. There is almost no influence on stability of embankment by gravity of back berm. It is suggested to fill the back berm by the soil with big cohesive strength and big internal friction angle.

Keywords:

Back berm, lateral displacement, stability, vertical settlement,

References

Competing interests

The authors have no competing interests.

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The authors have no competing interests.