a new finite element for back analysis of a geogrid reinforced soil retaining wall failure

In this paper, a new approach for back analysis of a geogrid reinforced soil (grs) wall failure is presented. a new zero-thickness cohesive fracture element is utilized to simulate the slip surface behind the grs wall. this element can simulate displacement discontinuity as well as tractions across the shear band effectively. the numerical results are compared with the measured values from the physical test as well as the obtained values from the typical finite element method. this paper demonstrates that the proposed finite element algorithm via discrete modeling of the shear band can effectively improve the quality of numerical back analysis of the soil failure which explains its necessity.