Zum Nachweis gegen Versagen des Erdwiderlagers mit der Finite‐Elemente‐Methode.

Design approach against failure of the earth support using the finite element method The application of the finite element method (FEM) in geotechnical engineering has been established in the last decades for the prediction of deformations in the serviceability limit state (SLS). In practice, stability analyses in the ultimate limit state (ULS) are only partially performed using the FEM and are currently still state of the art. The next generation of Eurocode 7 is intended to regulate numerical methods with regard to their application in the ULS. However, the handling of the additionally required analysis of the German National Annex and DIN 1054 is still unsolved. In this paper, an approach for the numerical analysis of the earth support is presented. Following the well‐established strength reduction method, the weight of the soil γ and the cohesion c' ${{c}^{{ {\prime}}}}$ on the earth resistance side are reduced until failure occurs. On the basis of this, the analysis in ULS is carried out by defining a safety factor for the existing embedment depth of the retaining wall. This is followed by a comparison with the analytical free earth support method, identifying system reserves using the FEM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]