MSE WALL EXTERNAL STABILITY ANALYSES

Introduction
Calculations for external stability of MSE wall, including sliding, bearing resistance and
overturning
Geometry and Soil Parameters of the Wall
Design height of the wall H := 10ft

Exposed height of the wall He := 8ft

He
Embedment depth de := de = 0.4  ft
20
Width of the reinforced soil LRs := 10ft
lb
Unit weight of Retained Soil γrs := 110
3
ft
lb
Unit weight of Reinforced soil for MSE γRs := 110
3
ft

Frictional angle of Retained Soil ϕrs := 34deg

Frictional angle of Reinforced Soil for MSE ϕRsmse := 34deg

lb
Unit weight for Sand Layers γsand := 115
3
ft
lb
Unit weight for Clay Layers γclay := 115
3
ft

Frictional angle of Sand Layers ϕsand := 30deg

Frictional angle of Clay layers ϕclay := 23deg

lb
Cohesion of Clay layers Cclay := 850
2
ft
lb
Unit weight of foundation soil γf := 120 
3
ft
lb
Unit weight of groundwater γw := 62.4
3
lb ft
Cohesion of the foundation soil Cf := 0
2
ft
Friction angle of the foundation soil ϕf := 30deg
Loading and Resistance Factors Based on FHWA Design

EVmax := 1.35 LLmax := 1.75

EVmin := 1.00 LLmin := 1.75
EHmax := 1.50 ϕR.sliding := 1.00
EHmin := 0.90 ϕR.bearing := 0.65

Height of Soil for temporay surcharge H1 := 3ft

Height of Soil for Vehicle live load H2 := 2ft
lb
Unit weight of soil for Vehicle live load γvll := 125
3
ft

lb
Temporary Surcharge q1 := γrs  H1 q1 = 330 
2
ft

lb
Vehicle Live Load q2 := γvll  H2 q2 = 250 
2
ft

Unfactored Horizontal Forces and Moments on the MSE Wall

2
 ϕrs 
Coefficient of Horizontal earth pressure for Retained K ars := tan  45deg - 
Soil (Active)  2 

K ars = 0.283
2
Horizontal force from horizontal earth pressure F1 := 0.5γrs  H  Kars
Surcharges 3 lb
F1 = 1.555  10 
ft
Horizontal force from for Temporary Surcharge q1 F11 := q1  H  Kars

lb
F11 = 932.959
ft
Horizontal force from for Vehicle Live Load q2 F12 := q2  H  Kars

lb
F12 = 706.787
ft
H
Moment about point A from F1 MF1 := F1 
3
3
MF1 = 5.183  10 lb
 H
Moment about point A from F11 MF11 := F11 
2
3
MF11 = 4.665  10 lb
H
Moment about point A from F12 MF12 := F12 
2
3
MF12 = 3.534  10 lb

Unfactored Vertical Forces and Moments on the MSE

Wall
Vertical force from self weight of V 1 := γRs  H  LRs
the
4 lb
reinforced soil mass V 1 = 1.1  10 
ft
Vertical force from for Temporary Surcharge V 11 := q1  LRs
q1
3 lb
V 11 = 3.3  10
ft
Vertical force from for Vehicle Live Load V 12 := q2  LRs
q2
3 lb
V 12 = 2.5  10
ft
LRs
Moment about point A from MV1 := V1 
V1 2
4
MV1 = 5.5  10 lb

LRs
Moment about point A from MV11 := V11 
V11 2
4
MV11 = 1.65  10 lb
LRs
Moment about point A from MV12 := V12 
V12 2
4
MV12 = 1.25  10 lb

Sliding Resistance at the base of MSE Wall

Case 1 - Load Combination: Vertical and Horizontal Forces from Reinforced soil, Retained soil, and
Live Load surcharge with maximum strength I load factors

Factored Horizontal Force on the Wall

HF.1 := EHmax  F1 + LLmax  F12

3 lb
HF.1 = 3.569  10
ft
Factored Vertical Force on the Wall

V F.1 := EVmax  V1

4 lb
V F.1 = 1.485  10
ft

Nominal Sliding Resistance at the interface

(
V N.1 := V F.1  tan ϕsand )
3 lb
V N.1 = 8.574  10
ft

Factored Sliding Resistance

V R.1 := V N.1  ϕR.sliding

3 lb
V R.1 = 8.574  10
ft

Ok R1 := V R.1 > HF.1

Ok R1 = 1

Capacity over Demand

VR.1
CD.1 := CD.1 = 2.402
HF.1

Case 2 - Load Combination: Vertical and Horizontal Forces from Reinforced soil, Retained soil, and
Live Load surcharge with minimum strength I load factors

Factored Horizontal Force on the Wall

HF.2 := EHmin  F1 + LLmin  F12

3 lb
HF.2 = 2.636  10
ft

Factored Vertical Force on the Wall

V F.2 := EVmin  V1

4 lb
V F.2 = 1.1  10
ft
Nominal Sliding Resistance at the interface

(
V N.2 := V F.2  tan ϕsand )
3 lb
V N.2 = 6.351  10
ft

Factored Sliding Resistance

V R.2 := V N.2  ϕR.sliding

3 lb
V R.2 = 6.351  10
ft

Ok R2 := V R.2 > HF.2

Ok R2 = 1

Capacity over Demand

VR.2
CD.2 := CD.2 = 2.409
HF.2

Limiting Eccentricity at the base of MSE Wall

Case 1 - Load Combination: Vertical and Horizontal Forces from Reinforced soil, Retained soil, and
Live Load surcharge with maximum strength I load factors

Factored Vertical Resistance Moment about Point A without Live Load Surcharge on the Wall

MRA1 := MV1  EVmax

4
MRA1 = 7.425  10 lb

Factored Horizontal Overturning Moment about Point A with Live Load Surcharge on the Wall

MOA1 := MF1  EHmax + MF12  LLmax

4
MOA1 = 1.396  10 lb

Net Moment about Point A on the Wall

MA1 := MRA1 - MOA1

4
MA1 = 6.029  10 lb
Location of the Resultant Force from Point A on the Wall

MA1
a1 :=
VF.1 a1 = 4.06 ft

Eccentricity at the base of the MSE Wall

LRs
eL1 := - a1 eL1 = 0.94 ft
2

Limiting Eccentricity MSE Wall

LRs
e1 := e1 = 2.5 ft
4

OKe1 := e1 > eL1

OKe1 = 1

Case 2 - Load Combination: Vertical and Horizontal Forces from Reinforced soil, Retained soil, and
Live Load surcharge with minimum strength I load factors

Factored Vertical Resistance Moment about Point A without Live Load Surcharge on the
Wall
MRA2 := MV1  EVmin
4
MRA2 = 5.5  10 lb

Factored Horizontal Overturning Moment about Point A with Live Load Surcharge on the
Wall
MOA2 := MF1  EHmin + MF12  LLmin

4
MOA2 = 1.085  10 lb

Net Moment about Point A on the

Wall
MA2 := MRA2 - MOA2

4
MA2 = 4.415  10 lb
 Location of the Resultant Force from Point A on the
Wall
MA2
a2 :=
VF.2 a2 = 4.014 ft

Eccentricity at the base of the MSE

Wall LRs
eL2 := - a2 eL2 = 0.986 ft
2

Limiting Eccentricity MSE

Wall

LRs
e2 := e2 = 2.5 ft
4

OKe2 := e2 > eL2

OKe2 = 1

Bearing Resistance at the base of MSE Wall

Construction Phase Load Case - Load Combination: Vertical and Horizontal Forces from
Reinforced soil, Retained soil, and Temporary Construction surcharge with maximum strength I
load factors
The construction phose load combination with temporary surcharge that will be removed.
It is considered to be the most critical load case for foundation bearing capacity analyses.

Factored vertical load

(
V FL := EVmax  V1 + V11 )
4 lb
V FL = 1.931  10
ft
Factored Resistance Moment about Point A

LRs
MFR := VFL 
2
4
MFR = 9.652  10 lb
 Factored Overturning Moment about Point A during construction

(
MFO := EHmax  MF1 + MF11 )
4
MFO = 1.477  10 lb

Net Moment about Point A on the Wall during construction

MAFnet := MFR - MFO 4
MAFnet = 8.175  10 lb

Location of the Resultant Force from Point A on the Wall during construction

MAFnet
ac := ac = 4.235 ft
VFL

Eccentricity at the base of the MSE Wall during construction

LRs
eLc := - ac eLc = 0.765 ft
2

Limiting Eccentricity MSE Wall durin g constructio n

LRs
ec := ec = 2.5 ft
4

OKec := ec > eLc

OKec = 1

Effective width of the base of MSE Wall during

construction
B eff := LRs - 2  eLc

B eff = 8.47 ft

Bearing Stress due to MSE Wall during construction

VFL
σvbs :=
Beff

3 lb
σvbs = 2.279  10
2
ft
Bearing resistance of sand at the base of the MSE Wall
during construction for friction angle of 30 degree

Bearing Capacity factor for cohesion Nc := 30.14

Bearing Capacity factor for unit weight Nγ := 22.4

( )
qnbs := Cf  Nc + 0.5  Beff  γf - γw  Nγ

3 lb
qnbs = 5.464  10
2
ft

Factored Bearing Capacity of sand below the Wall

qnbsf := 0.65  qnbs 3 lb

qnbsf = 3.552  10
2
ft

OKqnbs := qnbsf > σvbs

OKqnbs = 1

Capacity over Demand for Bearing Capacity

qnbsf
CD.bs := CD.bs = 1.558
σvbs
q1 Temporary surcharge – ft of soil

q2
Vehicle live load - ft of soil
2

Reinforced soil
F21 or F22

Retained soil

Upper Sand
L

Upper Clay