Effect of wall penetration depth on the behavior of sheet pile walls

Date of Award

2013

Degree Name

M.S. in Civil Engineering

Department

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Engineering Mechanics

Advisor/Chair

Advisor: Ömer Bilgin

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to present the study on the effect of wall penetration depth on sheet pile wall behavior. The conventional methods used in the structural design of sheet pile walls are based on the limit equilibrium approach and they do not consider wall deformations, which are important for serviceability considerations. The wall penetration depth is determined during the design using conventional methods, and the depth determined is used for the construction of the wall. This study investigated how varying wall penetration depths affect wall deformations and wall moments, as well as the anchor force when the walls are anchored. The effect of wall penetration depths for varying soil conditions and wall heights on both cantilever and anchored sheet pile walls behavior has been investigated by conducting a parametric study. The finite element method was used to perform numerical modeling and analyses to evaluate the structural response and behavior of the walls. The results show that increasing wall penetration depth can help to reduce wall deformations for both cantilever and anchored walls. Increasing wall penetration depth can also reduce wall bending moments significantly when the walls are anchored.

Keywords

Walls Design and construction Mathematical models, Retaining walls Design and construction Mathematical models, Piling (Civil engineering) Mathematical models, Sheet pile walls; cantilever sheet piling; anchored sheet piling; wall penetration depth of sheet piling

Rights Statement

Copyright © 2013, author

Share

COinS