Use of PFC<sup>2D</sup> for Simulation of Triaxial Compression Test for Reinforced Earth and Analysis of Sand Particle’s Movement

The simulation of triaxial compression test for reinforced earth is carried out under application of the numerical analysis software PFC2D. Several groups of reinforced earth samples are tested by simulation under same enclosed pressure but different arrangement of reinforcement and vice versa in the state of shear failure and the results of the test is compared with that from macroscopic experiment. The test shows that reinforcement in earth mass leads to remarkable improvement in shear strength and inhibition of movement of particles around reinforcement medium. The tendency of motion between particles grows as enclosed pressure rises but decreases with the increase of reinforcement layer in number. The reinforcement constrains the lateral deformation of sand sample and enhances shear strength. And the effect of enhancement caused by three-layer reinforcement is remarkably better than that by one-layer. Besides if there’s only a single reinforcement layer, the strengthening effect of a layer in the middle of sample height is better than that of a layer at 1/4 height or 3/4 height, which accords with the results from macroscopic experiment.