Finite element modelling of pullout testing on a soil nail in a pullout box under different overburden and grouting pressures

Abstract

In this paper, a three-dimensional (3D) finite element (FE) model is developed to simulate the pullout behaviour of a soil nail in a soil-nail pullout box under different overburden and grouting pressures. The FE model simulates all the procedures of a pullout test on a grouted soil nail in a compacted and saturated completely decomposed granite (CDG) soil. The stress–strain behaviour of the CDG soil is described by a modified Drucker–Prager/Cap model, while that of the soil–nail interface is represented by the Coulomb friction model. Triaxial experiment data are used to calibrate the soil parameters in the soil constitutive model. The interface parameters are determined from back-analysis with the laboratory soil-nail pullout data. The soil stress variations surrounding the soil nail during drilling, grouting, saturation, and pullout are all well simulated by the FE modelling and compared with available test data. The comparisons between the modelling and experimental data have shown that the established FE can well simulate the pullout behaviour of a soil nail in a soil mass. Based on this, the verified FE model has the potential to simulate the performance of a soil nail in a field soil slope.