Numerical analysis of the effect of surcharge on the mechanical behavior of geocell reinforced retaining wall

protection of slopes due to its advantages. In this paper, the effects of surcharge on the horizontal
displacement of the wall back, the size of the sliding wedge and the factor of safety of geocell
reinforced retaining wall are numerically analyzed by employing the geotechnical finite element
method software Plaxis. The research results show that, when the distance of surcharge from the
wall face is small, the maximum and the minimum deformation of the wall back takes place near
the top of the wall and the wall bottom respectively. After the distance of surcharge from the wall
face exceeds about 13% of the wall height, the surcharge has little effect on the horizontal
deformation of the wall back, the size of the sliding wedge and the safety factor of geocell
reinforced retaining wall. The horizontal deformation of the wall back gradually increases with the
increase of the length of the surcharge until it reaches a certain value. The effect of the length of
the surcharge on the failure surface is not significant. Besides, the factor of safety of the wall
gradually decreases with the increase of length of the surcharge. However, with the increase of the
distance of the surcharge from the wall face, the influence of the length of the surcharge on the
safety factor gradually becomes small. The study results can supplement theoretical basis for the
design of geocell reinforced retaining walls in engineering practices.