Pseudo-Static Analysis of Soil Nailed Excavations

In this paper, a pseudo-static analysis has been presented to investigate the stability of soil nailed vertical/nearly vertical excavations. The failure surface is assumed as the arc of log-spiral passing through the toe of the excavation and intersecting the ground at right angle. The horizontal and vertical seismic forces are taken in terms of horizontal and vertical seismic coefficients. The internal failure mode of the nailed cut is considered either by pull-out or rupture or excessive bending whichever is critical. Expression for the factor of safety is derived using moment equilibrium method. Results have been arranged in tabular form considering ranges of the design parameters usually occur in practice. A typical table for the design of nailed excavation with driven nails is presented in the paper. Analytical results have been compared with the findings of model tests and reasonably good agreement has been observed.