Developing a numerical model for the design of sheet pile walls

This project involves the investigation, development and validation of cantilevered and anchored sheet pile wall models. The effect of sheet pile construction penetrating a sandy soil are investigated by analysing numerical outputs such as the wall deformation, ground settlement and maximum bending moment. The numerical analysis is completed using an industrially known computer software program: Fast Lagrangian Analysis of Continua (FLAC). The quality of the FLAC models used to obtain the numerical solutions was validated for accuracy against available analytical solutions. The aims of this project were to gain sufficient knowledge on sheet pile wall design methods, better known as the limit equilibrium methods; develop an automatic Excel spreadsheet as a design tool for solving any sheet pile wall design problem; and be able to easily validate the accuracy of the obtained numerical solutions by comparing the numerical and analytical solutions. The main focus of the investigation was to develop new cantilever and anchored sheet pile wall models for a specific geotechnical problem of a sheet pile penetrating a sandy soil in the presence of a water table. This was done by validating the numerical models and undertaking parametric studies varying specific parameters to investigate thoroughly the behaviour of the sheet pile wall system. This research concludes that the analytical methods provide a basic understanding of the soil-wall system behaviour; however, the hypothesis on which these methods are based makes them necessarily conservative, due to the number of assumptions required to simplify the design procedure. Numerical modelling in FLAC produces more accurate results and, by undertaking advanced parametric studies, indicates the actual behaviour of the soil-wall system in the real world. The development of numerical models, undertaking of parametric studies and validation of solutions by comparing against analytical method solutions are areas deserving of further research, as this will lead to more effective sheet pile wall designs in the engineering industry