Parametric Studies of Wall Displacement in Excavations with Inclined Framed Retaining Walls

Abstract

Due to the limitation of cantilever wall in practice, an innovative retaining structure, named inclined framed retaining wall (IFRW), has been developed. The aim of this investigation is to analyze the factors influencing IFRW performance in clay and to determine the optimal IFRW layout. Validated finite-element models are used to evaluate the effect of the geometric parameters, including the angle of the inward inclined piles (θI), the angle of the outward inclined piles (θO), the length of the inward inclined piles (LI), and the length of the outward inclined piles (LO), on the maximum retaining structure displacement (δh,max). The results show that the IFRW utilizes the interface friction between the soil and the retaining wall. The horizontal component of the generated friction provides a resultant force pointing out of the excavation, which is similar to the effect of struts in propped excavation. Furthermore, the multivariate adaptive regression splines (MARS) procedure is adopted to find the optimal arrangement of the retaining wall system. The relative importance of each input parameter and their coupled interactions on the structure displacement are quantified.