Abstract

Lightweight cellular concrete (LCC) is a type of concrete that has reduced density and weight compared to traditional concrete. This is achieved by incorporating a large amount of air- filled cells or voids into the mixture. The resulting material is lighter, yet still possesses considerable strength and durability, making it suitable for a range of construction applications, especially in the case of retaining walls because of its reduced weight. Unlike traditional concrete, which can be extremely heavy and place significant stress on the supporting structure, lightweight cellular concrete reduces the pressure on the retaining wall, helping to prevent deformation and failure. Additionally, the reduced weight of the material can also simplify construction processes and make it easier to transport and handle, reducing the cost and labor required to build a retaining wall. The reduced weight also makes it possible to build taller walls with less settlement in the underlying compressible layers, which can be especially beneficial in areas with utility lines sensitive to displacement. Despite these advantages, limited research has been performed on the use of LCC as a backfill for retaining wall applications. This report provides new test data on the pullout resistance of ribbed-strip and welded-wire mesh reinforcements at high pressures. The pullout tests at high pressures were conducted in which four test prisms (2 ft wide x 10 ft long x 2' tall) that were filled with LCC with welded-wire mesh reinforcement on one side and ribbed strip reinforcement on the other. These boxes were loaded with vertical confining pressures of 40, 50, and 60 psi and subjected to a pullout force on the reinforcement until failure. These results were then combined with results from previous BYU tests at lower pressures to define pullout resistance factors, F* (friction coefficients) for MSE reinforcements over a full range of pressures. Finally, the pullout resistance of MSE reinforcements were used in slope stability models to back-calculate the F* values that would lead to failure at the surcharge pressures measured in three previous large-scale tests conducted on 10 ft wide x 10 ft tall x 13 ft long blocks of LCC at BYU. Very good agreement was obtained between the computed F* at failure and the measured F* values confirming the validity of this approach for engineering design in the future involving global stability MSE wall stability under surcharge loading.

Degree

MS

College and Department

Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering; Computational, Mathematical, and Physical Sciences

Rights

https://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/

Date Submitted

2024-08-13

Document Type

Thesis

Handle

http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/etd13372

Keywords

civil, structural, engineering, MSE, LCC, backfill, reinforcement, metallic, pullout, stability, retaining, wall

Language

english

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