Analysis of anchored retaining walls

The design of anchored retaining walls requires a reliable prediction of anchor capacities. This paper discusses results from a large number of laboratory tests and finite element simulations on pullout behaviour of vertical anchors and multi-anchored retaining walls with sand as the backfill soil. The pullout behaviour was examined at both shallow and deep embedment depths. The effect of the shape of anchors was studied by testing square, rectangular, and circular anchors. The tests were repeated for three different friction angles of backfill soil. The model retaining walls were loaded with a uniform surcharge until collapse. The measured anchor forces at collapse indicated that the lateral pressures in the backfill soil corresponds to Rankine active earth pressure state. The behaviour of these walls was studied for different sizes and configurations of anchors. Based on the results from this work, a method is proposed for the design of these walls.