Abstract "

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Numerical Analysis of the Load Transfer and Deformation in a Soil Nailed Slope
Michael Z. Yang~ and Eric C. Drumm, 2 Member ASCE
Abstract."
A mine waste slope that had failed previously was cut back and stabilized
with soil nails. The lower section of the slope was steepened from 1H:IV to about
1H'3.7V, and the slope was monitored with slope inclinometers. To evaluate the load
transfer process in the nails during the excavation of the lower slope, a finite element
analysis was conducted. A typical 3-D section of the slope was analyzed, with the
width equal to the horizontal nail spacing. Staged material property replacement and
removal of elements was used to simulate the construction and excavation process.
The analysis results were compared with slope inclinometer data from the field site,
and the axial nail forces were evaluated. The build up of tension in the nails was
represented in the model. To observe the load transfer mechanisms as failure was
approached, a surcharge loading was then incrementally applied on the top of the
finite element model of the slope. The results suggest the development of a yield
zone leading to a global failure of the slope.
Introduction
Prior to 1977 when the U.S. Surface Mining Act mandated surface mine
reclamation, the extraction of coal from the southern Appalachian mountains of the
United States often left unstable or marginally stable waste-rock slopes. These slopes
were created when waste-rock was dumped down the hillside below the mine
Geotechnical Engineer, Michael Baker Jr., Inc., 555 Business Dr., Suite 100,
Horsham, PA 19044. Formerly Grad. Res. Asst., Dept. of Civil & Environ. Engrg.,
Univ. of Tenn., Knoxville, TN 37916
2 Professor, Dept. of Civil & Environ. Engrg., Univ. of Tenn., Knoxville, TN 37916
102
NUMERICALMETHODS IN GEOTECHNICALENGINEERING
103
operations. This mine spoil is often comprised of random size material ranging from
clay size to boulder size, and generally exists at low density. Many of these slopes are
still active, with down slope movement carrying trees and vegetation. This movement
may occur very slowly over periods of years, or may occur rapidly corresponding to
periods of high rainfall or construction activities. Access to these slopes is often
difficult, making conventional repair methods involving movement of large volumes
of material demanding and expensive. An investigation (Drumm et al. 1997) was
conducted to evaluate the application of established soil nailing techniques to mine
waste slopes.
An existing, marginally stable 1H: 1V slope about 8 m high was stabilized
with nails. The lower 4 m of the slope was steepened to 1H:3.7V (75 degrees), thus
creating a "cut-slope" requiring support, Figure 1. Boulders and debris in the mine
spoil forced the relocation of many nails, resulting in an irregular nailing pattern
(Drumm et al. 1998). However, one section of the slope was designed with 3 m long
nails in the upper natural slope and 6 m nails in the lower cut slope and can be
idealized as shown in Figure 1. The design specified 1.5 m horizontal and vertical
nail spacing. The 25 mm diameter steel nails were grouted into 200 mm diameter
holes augered into the mine spoil. Although nail installation followed conventional
soil nail practice, the surface did not receive shotcrete. Instead, to encourage the
growth of vegetation, a layer of geo-grid was applied to the surface, and held in place
by 0.5 m square plates on the end of each nail. Slope inclinometers were installed to
measure the deformations in the nailed slope. Figure 1 depicts the approximate
location of the inclinometer casing. The deformations in the slope were monitored
during construction, and for a period of 800 days following completion of the slope
excavation. To investigate the stress distribution in the nails, and investigate the
mechanisms contributing to the stability of the soil nailed slope, a series of numerical
analyzes was performed.
Both 2 dimensional and 3 dimensional finite element approximations have
been utilized to analyze the deformation and stress conditions in reinforced soil
systems (Mino et al., 1988; Nagao et al., 1988; Jewell and Pedley, 1992; Asaoka et
al., 1996; Ehrlich et al., 1996; Kenny and Kawai, 1996; Briaud and Lim, 1997).
When the 3 dimensional soil-nail system is idealized in 2-D, the nails are often
represented by continuous reinforced plate with an equivalent stiffness (Nagao et al.,
1988; Enrlich et al., 1996; Kenny and Kawai, 1996). When the nails are replaced by
a continuous plate, the contact area between the soil and nails is over estimated and
the resulting modified interface parameters may have little physical meaning
(Asaoka et al., 1996). The soil-nail interaction effects can be more accurately
characterized using a 3-D finite element approximation in which the individual nails
can be modeled (Asaoka et al., 1996; Briand and Lim, 1997).
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METHODS IN GEOTECHNICALENGINEERING
Figure 1 Schematic Section Through Nailed Slope
3-D finite element analysis of a nailed slope

A numerical analysis was conducted to model the deformation of the slope,
and to investigate the stress distribution in the nails and resulting improvement in
stability. The commercial finite element code ABAQUS (H., K., & S., 1998) was
used for the analysis. A 3-D section of the slope was idealized as shown in Figure 2a,
with a model width in the x coordinate direction equal to the 1.5 m horizontal nail
spacing. The subsurface conditions were approximated by considering a
homogeneous mine waste overlying sandstone bedrock (Drumm et al., 1997). Eightnode brick and six-node tetrahedral elements were used to represent the mine spoil,
sandstone and soil nails. In addition to evaluating the conditions under the
gravitational service loads, the stresses as the slope approached instability were
evaluated by incrementally applying a surcharge loading at the top of the slope.
Therefore a large deformation algorithm was used in each analytical step.
The mine spoil was represented by a Drucker-Prager hardening elastic-plastic
model (Desai and Siriwardane, 1984), with the strength parameter and elastic
modulus assigned based on CU triaxial tests performed on the fine-grained portion
of the mine waste. The measured q0 and c were used to obtain the Drucker-Prager
yield function for plane strain conditions. A non-associative flow rule was used in
order to assure that the material would not be dilative. The steel/grout nails were
modeled as a single uniform material with equivalent linear elastic properties. The
nails were modeled as square in cross section, with an area equal to that of the grout
hole (200 mm in diameter). Zero thickness contact elements surrounded the nails,
with the shear strength of the interface assigned based on the results of nail pull-out
tests (Dmmmet al., 1997). The limited constraint provided to the soil by the geogrid
NUMERICALMETHODSIN GEOTECHNICALENGINEERING
105
installed on the slope surface and the plate at each nail head was approximated by an
elastic strip on the slope face. The elastic strip was 1.5 m wide (width of finite
element model) and 0.15 m high and attached to the nail with a spring element of low
stiffness (4000 kN/m). The sandstone at the lower level was assumed to act a strong
stiff layer, and modeled as a linear elastic material. The material properties used in
the analysis are summarized in Table 1. The elastic-plastic material model used for
the mine spoil and the contact elements used with the soil nails require an
incremental process. For this reason, the initial stress state must be estimated and the
loading sequence must be approximated.
Table 1. Summary of Material Properties

Material
Cohesion Friction Angle Elastic Modulus Poisson's Ratio
Description
c (kPa)
ip (deg)
E (MPa)
la
Mine Waste
20
20
11
0.33
Sandstone
NA
NA
180
0.25
Nail & Grout
NA
NA
8,000
0.23
Grout/mine
0
20
NA
NA
waste interface
Plate
NA
NA
400
0.23
Determination o f initial stresses and Simulation o f Nail Installation
Soil nails act as passive reinforcement elements in the nailed slope system.
As the soil slope deforms under loading, external loads are transferred to the nails
and the induced stresses in the nail improve stability. To properly model the load
transfer mechanisms in a nailed slope, it is important to account for the initial stress
conditions in the soil, and to simulate the sequential slope excavation and nail
installation process. Relative displacements at the interface between the nail/grout
Figure 2 (a) Mesh of Initial Slope (b) Mesh of Soil Nailed Slope
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NUMERICAL
and the surrounding soil must be included. Without slip taking place along the nails,
very high stresses would be generated at the ends of the nails, and tensile stress
would be produced in the soil. This would lead to an unrealistic stress distribution
and a poor representation of the field behavior.
The analysis procedure employed here is illustrated in Figure 3. The first
analytical step (Stepl) was to determine the geostatic stresses in the mine waste,
which was accomplished by fixing all the nodes and applying the gravitational
loading. For this step all the elements (including the soil nails) were assigned
properties corresponding to the mine waste. In Step 2, the initial boundary conditions
were imposed, and the remaining nodes were released to allow the slope to deform.
This established the initial stress and deformation conditions in the natural slope, and
provided the baseline deformations for the calculation of the incremental
displacement, strains, and stresses due to the subsequent excavation and loading
steps. The staged nail installation and slope excavation process were then simulated
in Steps 3 to 5. The nail installation was simulated in Step 3 by simultaneously
removing the soil elements and replacing with nail elements, and the response under
the gravity loading was determined. The stresses in the nails were then used to
determine the baseline nail forces from which incremental increases due to
subsequent excavation (Steps 4 and 5) could be compared. To observe the load
transfer mechanisms as failure was approached, a surcharge loading was then
incrementally applied on the top of nailed slope (Step 6).
Results and Discussions
The numerical results from the end of analysis Step 5 (end of excavation)
were compared with the observed deformation profiles from the inclinometer
measurements. The nodal displacements obtained along a vertical line about 2 meters
behind the edge of the slope, corresponding to the location of the inclinometer casing
(Figure 1), are compared with the measured inclinometer deflections in Figure 4. The
maximum computed displacement at the surface was about 1.7 mm, whereas the
displacement measured at the end of construction (about 60 days after the start of
construction) was about 0.6 mm. The measured displacements are relative to the
bottom of the inclinometer casing (depth of about 7 m), which was the refusal depth
during the installation. The numerical results indicate displacements extending to a
depth of over 10 m, with a displacement of nearly one mm at the depth corresponding
to the bottom of the inclinometer casing. This would suggest that the bottom of the
inclinometer casing was at insufficient depth and it may have translated with the
mine waste as the displacement took place. If it is assumed that the bottom of the
inclinometer casing translated by about one mm, an amount equal to the computed
FE displacement at this depth, the measured displacement profile can be "corrected"
by applying a one mm translation to the displacements as indicated by the corrected
measurements shown in Figure 4. With this correction to the field measurements, the
NUMERICAL METHODS IN GEOTECHNICALENGINEERING
Figure 3 Steps in Analysis Procedure
107
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NUMERICAL
METHODSIN GEOTECHNICALENGINEERING
Figure 4 Comparison of Measured and

Predicted Displacement
predicted displacements above the 7 m depth seem to agree very well with the field
measurements at the end of construction.
Also shown in Figure 4 is the corrected displacement profile measured 800
days after construction. The additional deformations which took place after
construction have been attributed largely to creep (Drummet al., 1998), which was
not considered in the numerical analysis. However, it is observed that the additional
long term deformations seem to be occurring primarily in the material above a depth
of 4 m, or in the natural slope with the shorter 3 m nails. Very little additional
deformation was measured by the inclinometer at depths from about 4 m to 7 m,
corresponding to the portion of the lower cut slope with the longer 6 m nails. In the
initial design of the nail system, the shorter 3 m nails installed in the upper 4 m of the
natural slope were not considered to contribute to the overall stability, but were
installed to control local deformations. The observed deformations suggest that the
these short nails were not effective in controlling the long term creep deformation in
the upper slope, but the 6 m nails in the lower slope effectively limited slope
deformation. It will be shown below that the short upper nails are of insufficient
NUMERICALMETHODS IN GEOTECHNICALENGINEERING
109
length to extend across the region of concentrated plastic strains that would be
developed as the slope approaches failure due to a surcharge loading.
Yielding in the slope was investigated in terms of the computed plastic strain
magnitude e;:
~p = ~pl~pl
where e pt is the plastic strain. The results of the analysis suggested that the plastic
strains were very small throughout the mine waste under the service load. Figure 5a
illustrates the computed yielded zone under the service (gravitational) load. Only a
small plastic zone (maximum strain magnitude equals 5%) occurred at the toe of the
nailed slope. This suggests that the nailed slope has a high global factor of safety,
which is consistent with the results from limit equilibrium analysis which yielded a
FS=I.7 (Drumm et al., 1997).
To observe the load transfer mechanisms in the nailed slope as failure was
approached, a surcharge loading was incrementally applied on the top of the slope.
Figure 5b illustrates a continuous yielded zone under a 90 kPa surcharge load at the
top bench of the nailed slope. This was the smallest value of the surcharge loading
such that a continuous zone of plastic strains were computed. The scale of the plastic
strains is the same as that in Figure 5a. Below this level of surcharge, the yielded
zone was discontinuous. A probable slip surface, indicated in Figure 5b, was
obtained by connecting the locus of largest plastic strain magnitude computed at each
elevation. This slip surface had a parabolic form, which is the assumed shape in
many global limit equilibrium stability analysis methods (Shen et al., 1981; G~sler,
1988). It is noted that the short nails in the upper slope are completely contained
within this zone of large plastic strain. A surcharge loading of 160 kPa was the
maximum for which a solution could be obtained. At this level of loading, a limit
equilibrium analysis provided a similar failure surface and a FS = 1.07.
The axial tension force computed in each nail under different loading
conditions is presented in Figure 6. Although tension was developed in the nails as
the lower slope was excavated, the predicted tensile forces were very small, both in
the short upper nails and longer lower nails. At the end of construction, the maximum
tension force predicted was about 5 kN near the center of nail 5. This can be
compared with the anticipated range of nail capacity of 25 to 60 kN, based on field
nail pullout tests (Drumm et al., 1997) and an assumed development length of 3 m.
The interface elements around the nails assured that the stresses were nearly zero at
the end of the nails away from the slope face, which is expected. Due to the presence
of the plate on the end of the nail at the slope face, small tensile forces were
developed at the head of the lower nails.
110
NUMERICAL
METHODS
IN G E O T E C H N I C A L
ENGINEERING
O tt~
,,.-,
O
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*-.,
NUMERICAL METHODS IN GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING
Figure 6 Predicted Axial Force in Each Nail under

Service and Surcharge Load
11 l
112
NUMERICAL
Figure 6 also illustrates the increase in nail force as the surcharge on the top
of the slope is increased. With a 60 kPa surcharge, a maximum tension force of about
14 kN was predicted in the center of nail 5, and a force of about 12 kN was generated
at the center of nail 4. Even under the higher surcharge loading the tensile forces in
the upper nails was very small, suggesting that they contributed little to the stability
of the slope.
In Figure 7, a section through the slope is shown, onto which the computed
nail forces from Figure 6 are superimposed on the relevant nail. The probable slip
surface obtained from the maximum plastic strains in Figure 5b is also shown. The
slip surface passes through nails 4 and 5 near the area where the maximum nail
tensile forces were generated, which is consistent with common design assumptions
(Shen, et al., 1981; Juran, and Beech, 1984; G~ssler, 1988). Nail number 6 at the
bottom of slope was installed in anticipation of additional excavation, which did not
take place due to the sandstone layer. The probable slip surface crosses this nail near
its head.
Summary and Conclusions

A 3 dimensional finite element analysis was conducted to model the
deformations and to investigate the stress distribution in a nailed slope excavated in
mine waste. The method used to estimate the initial stresses and to incorporate the
construction sequence was described, and the modeling of the nail/soil interface and
nail face plate was discussed. The analysis results were compared with field
measured deformations under the gravitational service loading, and the analysis was
extended to evaluate conditions near failure through the application of a surcharge
load. Results from the analysis lead to the following conclusions:
The computed deformations agreed very well with field measurements from
inclinometers, provided the field measurements were corrected for
deformations that may have occurred blow the lowest point in the
inclinometer casing. Most of the long term deformations occurred in the
upper slope which was supported by the short (3 m) nails suggesting that
these nails were not effective.
2.
Other than a small zone of plastic strains at the toe, the computed strains were
small under the gravity service load conditions. This indicates the
effectiveness of the soil nailing method. The nail forces were generally small,
but tensile forces were developed in the longer lower nails installed in the cut
slope.
N U M E R I C A L M E T H O D S IN G E O T E C H N I C A L E N G I N E E R I N G
113
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119
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114
NUMERICAL
3.
Under the surcharge loading, a potential failure surface was obtained by

connecting the locus of the points with the largest plastic strain magnitude.
This surface was parabolic in form, which is consistent with the assumption
in many conventional limit equilibrium analysis methods.
4.
The upper nails contributed little towards global stability, which was
consistent with the original design assumptions. However, the measured long
term creep deformations seemed to occur primarily in the upper portion of the
slope, which suggests that if these nails had been extended, the long term
deformations would have been smaller. The short upper nails were
completely contained within the potential failure surface constructed from the
computed plastic strains under the surcharge loading.
5.
The nail tensile forces were very small under the service loading, but under
the surcharge loading the locations of the maximum tensile forces
corresponded to the point where the potential failure surface intersected the
nails.
Acknowledgments
The construction, instrumentation and monitoring of the nailed slope was
funded by the U.S. Bureau of Mines, Abandoned Mine Land (AML) Research
Program, Contract #1432-J0240002. Much of the analysis described here was
performed while the first author was a visiting scholar at the University of Tennessee
on leave from the Institute for Rock and Soil Mechanics, Wuhan, China. The authors
are grateful to the Institute for the financial support provided during this period.
References:
Asaoka, A., Pokharel G. and Ochiai, T. (1996). "Stability analysis of reinforced
Structures introducing some linear constraint contions upon the 3-D velocity
field." Proc. Earth Reinforcement, Yasufuku & Omine (eds), Balkema,
Rotterdam, 717-722.
Briaud, J. L. and Lim, Y. (1997). "Soil-nailed wall under piled bridge abutment:
simulation and guidelines." J. Geotech. & Geoenviron. Engrg., ASCE
123(11), 1043-1050.
Desai, C. S. and Siriwardane, H.J. (1984) Constitutive Laws for Engineering
Materials with Emphasis on Geologic Materials, Prentice-Hall, Inc.,
Englewood Cliffs, NJ 468 pp.
Drumm, E. C., Mauldon, M., and Berry, R. M. (1997). "Application of earth
inclusions for Slope Stabilization." Report to the U. S. Department of Energy,
Pittsburgh Research Center, Contract No. 1432-J0240002, 163 pp.
NUMERICALMETHODSIN GEOTECHNICALENGINEERING
115
Drumm, E. C., Mauldon, M., and Tant, C. R. (1998). "Stabilization of coat mine
waste with soil nails." Ground Improvement, No. 2, 147-156.
Ehrlich, M., Almeida, M. S., and Lima, A. M. (1996) "Parametric analysis of soil
nailing systems." Earth Reinforcement, Yasufuku & Omine (eds), Balkema,
Rotterdam, 747-752.
G/~ssler, G. (1988). "Soil nailing - theoretical basis and practical design." Int.
Geotech. Sym On Theo. & Pract. Of Earth Reinforc. Fukuoka, Japan, 283-288.
H., K., & S. (1998) ABAQUS User's and Theory Manuals. Version 5.7, Hibbit,
Karlson & Sorensen Inc. Pawtucket, R.I.
Juran, I. And Beech, J. (1984). "Theoretical analysis of nailed soil retaining
structures." Int. Sym. In-situ Soil & Rock Reinforc., Paris.
Jewell, R. A., Pedley, M. J. (1992). "Analysis for soil reinforcement with bending
stiffness." J. Geotech. Engrg., 118(10), 1505-1528.
Kenny, M. J. and Kawai, Y. (1996). "The effect of bending stiffness of soil nails on
wall deformation." Earth Reinforcement, Yasufuku & Omine (eds), Balkema,
Rotterdam, 771-774.
Mino, S., Noritake, K. and Innami, S. (1988). " Field monitoring procedure of cut
slopes reinforcement with steel bars." Int. Geotech. Sym. On Theo. & Pract. Of
Earth Reinforc. Fukuoka, Japan, 323-329
Nagao, A. Kitamura, T. and Mizutani, J. (1988). "Field experiment on reinforced
earth and its evaluation using FEM analysis." Int. Geotech. Sym. On Theo. &
Pract. Of Earth Reinforc. Fukuoka, Japan, 329-334.
Shen, C. K., Bang, S. and Herrmann, L. R. (1981). "Ground movement analysis of
an Earth Support System." J. Geotech. Engrg. ASCE 107(12).

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Figure 1 Schematic Section Through Nailed Slope

3-D finite element analysis of a nailed slope

Table 1. Summary of Material Properties

NUMERICAL METHODS IN GEOTECHNICALENGINEERING

Figure 3 Steps in Analysis Procedure

Figure 4 Comparison of Measured and

NUMERICAL METHODS IN GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING

Figure 6 Predicted Axial Force in Each Nail under

Summary and Conclusions

Under the surcharge loading, a potential failure surface was obtained by

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