Stabilization of Slopes Using Soil Nailing: Comparative Study of the Design by Conventional Method and Numerical Simulation

The conventional design method (FHWA in Report FHWA0-IF-03–017, U. S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Washington, DC, 2003, [12]) and numerical modeling (PLAXIS 2D) have been adopted for the design of soil nail stabilized slope, and a comparison between the two methods is made by varying the design parameters. A 10 m vertical wall in lateritic soil with nails installed horizontally is considered, and a parametric study is performed on it. Variation in material properties such as cohesion, unit weight, and angle of shearing resistance was made and the output in terms of maximum lateral displacement and the Global Factor of Safety was obtained. It is noted that the conventional method assumes a constant value of output parameters (Maximum lateral displacement and Global Factor of Safety) whereas the results obtained from PLAXIS 2D show significant variation in the output parameters. The effect of varying geometric parameters such as back slope angle, the vertical spacing of nails, and facing thickness is also observed by PLAXIS 2D and presented.