Effects of Inclination, Length Pattern and Bending Stiffness of Soil Nails

Comments Responses

CGE/GP (C K Wong)

The report is very interesting and readable and helps clarify some of
the controversial issues surrounding steeply inclined nails.

2. There were intensive debates in early nineties on the contribution of Additional numerical analysis have been carried out using the newly
shear and bending in nails, particularly for short steep nails which can only acquired finite element program PLAXIS. Result of the analysis shows
have limited pull-out capacity (such as fired nails) and have to rely on their that only small shear forces are mobilized in soil nails even at large
shear capacity. The very same issue is pertinent to our LPM sites where deformation, and that the contribution of the shear forces to slope stability
the slope toe areas are almost inaccessible and designers have to resort to improvement is small. This agrees well with the results of laboratory
short steep nails over the lower part of the slope. It is noted from the tests, theoretical analysis and monitoring of nailed structures reported by
FLAC analyses in the report that such steep nails at inclinations almost other researchers. The result of the additional numerical analysis is
normal to the shear surface might not be completely ineffective as tensile included in the report.
members, although they are inefficient compared with the upper nails.
Some guidelines as to the efficiency of these nails would be useful. It
would also be worthwhile to perform some numerical analyses to
investigate the contribution of shear in such nails and the deformations
required to mobilize shear capacity. This could give some insight into the
serviceability check required if shear capacity is considered.

3. Previous experimental and theoretical studies on the tensile and Previous studies by Bridle and his co-workers and Tan et al (2000) have
shear forces in nails should also include that carried out in Cardiff by Ron been included in Appendix D.
Bridle who also contributed to the debates on this subject in early nineties.
Recent contribution to such studies was made by Singapore (Tan, Luo,
Yong, 2000 in Ground Improvement).

CGE/I (A Y T Lam)

We refer to your memo regarding the captioned subject.

 -2-
Comments
2. The following are our comments, which you may like to consider in
finalising the Report:-
2.1 The report has not indicated whether the shear modulus of the soil
was reduced or kept constant in the numerical analysis when the shear
strength of the soil was reduced to cause failure of the slope. As the
FLAC analysis derives the failure surface on the basis of the magnitude of
shear strain, the shear modulus is likely to have an effect on the mode of
failure, hence, the stress and strain induced in the soil nails. For the
benefits of the readers, the slope deformations to mobilise the nail force for
the various nail inclinations should preferably be discussed in the report.
2.2 As the results of the numerical analyses indicate that tensile forces
are induced in the nails installed at the lower part (i.e. approx. 1/3 height) of
a soil nailed feature for steeply inclined nails, the guidance given in Section
5.7.1 of TGN 23 may not have completely taken into account the findings
of the report. In the urban area, physical constraints usually restrict the
use of nails with gentle inclination, hence, the use of steeply inclined nails
and their effectiveness in improving stability of existing features deserve
more attention. It would be appropriate to provide more guidance on the
use of nails with relatively steep inclination (i.e. a = 30 to 45) for
improving the stability of existing features.
Responses
Constant shear modulus of the soil was used in the numerical analysis. It
is true that forces mobilized in the nails are dependent on the strain
induced. In the analysis, the nail forces were determined when the nailed
structure had reached or was close to limit equilibrium condition. Under
such a condition, large soil deformations had occurred and in turn large
strains had been induced in the nails. Theoretically, slopes with different
shear modulus but with the same shear strength parameters should give
similar FoS at large deformations.
Although the result of the FLAC analysis shows that some tensile forces
can be mobilized in the steeply inclined nails near the slope toe,
compressive forces are developed in the upper nails. In such a case, the
stability of the nailed slope is a complicated problem involving a number
of considerations such as: (i) the amount of tensile forces that can be
mobilized in the bottom steep nails, noting that the forces would be less
than those of gently inclined nails, (ii) the amount of compressive forces
mobilized in the upper nails, (iii) the adverse effects of the compressive
nail forces on the stability of slope; and (iv) the structural capacity of the
nails to take the combined loading of axial, shear and bending. The
effects of these factors cannot easily be determined by the conventional
limit equilibrium approach because the behaviour of a nailed slope is a
stress-strain problem. As illustrated in the example given in Section 3.3
of the report, the limit equilibrium approach may lead to unsafe designs.
There are no simple and easy guidelines for the design of the steeply
inclined nails. This is why TGN 23 recommends that designers should
consider the problem carefully and demonstrate the effectiveness of the
nails using stress-strain analysis.
 -3-
Comments
2.3 As the report indicates that steeply inclined nails (e.g. a = 30 to
45) installed at the lower part of an existing feature are effective in
improving overall stability, it would be appropriate to provide guidance on
the application of limit equilibrium methods for the design of steeply
inclined soil nails.
2.4 Other minor or typing errors include:
(i) Section 2.2 (1st sentence) -soil inclination should be soil
nail inclination.
(ii) In Figure 1, the -ve has been drawn incorrectly.
(iii) Section 3.2.1 - Sv = 2m, but in Figure 2, Sv = 2.5m.
CGE/LPM1 (H W Sun)
Thank you for your MUR. I have reviewed the draft report. My
comments are given below for your consideration.
2. The draft report does not appear to have a coherent structure to
present more in-depth discussion of the state-of-the-art understanding as
well as its implications on steep slopes in weathered rocks in Hong Kong.
The study seems to rely largely on numerical modelling using FLAC and be
supported with fairly limited literature review. Based on the information
presented in the draft report, the literature review appears not particularly
comprehensive to cover the key issues. Attention seems to have been
given to processes in research or design, e.g. laboratory testing, numerical
studies, design methods, etc as opposed to the knowledge or insight gained
from previous work.
Responses
Stability of slopes with steeply inclined nails is a complicated stress-strain
problem that cannot easily be resolved using the conventional limit
equilibrium approach. Please also see the response to Comment 2.2
above.
Report amended.
The purpose of the report is to gain a better understanding of the
mechanical behaviour of nailed structures. The amount of work carried
out is considered adequate for achieving this purpose. It should be noted
that whilst a comprehensive review of literature has been conducted, only
those studies that have significant contribution to the understanding of the
behaviour of nailed structures are described and discussed in the report.
There are many literatures that only confirm or verify the results of
previous work. They are not included in the report as they do not add any
particular value.
 -4-
Comments
3. The technical writing is somewhat loose in the draft report. For
example, I am a bit puzzled by the phrases nail bearing failure that leads to
development of shear forces and bending moments in nails in the third
sentence of the Introduction and by the first sentence in Section 3.8 which
reads Soil nail is a strain compatibility problem.
4. Given the findings presented in Section 3.2, it is not clear why an
illustrative example on Slope Stability in Section 3.3 is needed. This
example does not appear to add particular value to the report.
5. The study appears to rely largely on simulations of soil nailed
slopes/excavations using two-dimensional FLAC. I presume that the
numerical models are plane-strain models but this has not been explained.
The title of Subsection 3.2.2 Analytical Approach appears to be
inconsistent with its contents. I note from this subsection that progressive
reduction of soil shear strength parameters was made to determine the
minimum FoS of soil-nailed slope. Care should be taken in reviewing
the results of the analyses as reduction of shear strength parameters may
lead to the prediction a different failure mechanism (i.e. different critical
sliding surfaces).
Responses
Changes made as appropriate.
The example is to illustrate the important point that the conventional limit
equilibrium approach commonly used in soil nail design would over
estimate the reinforcing effect of steeply inclined nails and can lead to
unsafe designs.
Use of plane strain analysis was mentioned in Section 3.2.1 of the Report.
The analytical approach given in Subsection 3.2.2 has been elaborated
further.
It is a well-known fact that care should be exercised when interpreting the
results of numerical analysis. This is why the analysis should be carried
out by experienced and competent users. The strength reduction method
is recommended by many researchers for the determination of FoS of
slopes in numerical analyses (e.g. Dawson et al, 1999; Krahn, 2003). The
limitation of the method in studying the failure mechanism has been taken
into account.
 -5-
Comments
6. In the investigation of the effect of nail inclination, it is suggested
that reference may be made to TRL Report Soil nailing for slopes by
Johnson et al (2002). Given the results of the present FLAC analyses and
the findings by Johnson et al (op cit), it is not sure why the inclination of
soil nails is to fall within 5 to 20 as recommended in Section 6. It may
also be impractical to install soil nails at a very shallow angle (e.g. 5 to
horizontal). Depending on the actual vertical alignment/curvature of the
soil nail drillhole, it may be difficult for the soil nail drillhole to be fully
grouted if it has a very shallow dip angle.
7. It is not clear why a deformation analysis using finite element or
finite difference calculations is needed for all slopes with steeply inclined
soil nails, bearing in mind that this kind of analyses can be very sensitive to
the assumptions and parameters adopted. On the other hand, given the
need for controlling ground movement for slopes with steeply inclined soil
nails it would be useful for the current study to recommend some
engineering measures to mitigate excessive ground movements. For
example, it may be useful to look at the effectiveness of a stiff facing
structure connected to all soil nail heads for reduction of ground
movements needed to mobilise steeply inclined soil nails close to a slope
toe.
Responses
The results of the numerical analyses undertaken in this study and previous
laboratory tests conducted by other researchers demonstrate that the
reinforcing effect of soil nails would decrease significantly if the nail
inclination exceeds 20o. Indeed, TRL Report 537 (Johnson et al, 2000)
reinforces this concept by stating that the optimum design angle would be
between about 10o and 15o below the horizontal. It should be noted that
overseas national guidelines, such as Clouterre (France), FHWA (US) and
HA68/94 (UK), recommend that soil nails should be placed as horizontally
as possible and that the use of steeply inclined nails must be carefully
considered. Their recommendations are consistent with those presented
in the report.
Stability of slopes with steeply inclined nails is a complicated stress-strain
problem that cannot easily be resolved using the conventional limit
equilibrium approach. Please see response to CGE/Is comment 2.2
above.
Recommended means to reduce ground deformation were given in Section
6 of the draft report. The effect of shotcrete facing was discussed and
analyzed in Section 3.6 of the draft report.
 -6-
Comments
8. The discussion on effect of bending stiffness of soil nails appears to
be superficial. Recent research findings have not been presented in the
report in the context of steep slopes in weathered rocks in Hong Kong. It
is suggested that reference may to made to Tan el at (2000) with respect to
the interaction mechanisms based on relative stiffness and yield strength of
the soil nail bars as well as the surrounding ground.
9. The assessment using FLAC to look into the effect of shotcrete
facing for vertical excavation supported with soil nails appears to be very
precise (e.g. crest deformation to an accuracy of 0.01 mm) but many of the
assumptions or parameters adopted can only be justified on a qualitative
basis. For example, the use of linear elastic model and constant section
for relatively thin shotcrete covers (which in practice contain cracks of
differing extent) may lead to substantial uncertainty in the results. This
does not appear to have been adequately considered/assessed in the draft
report.
CGE/LPM2 (S C T Yip)
1. General Comments
A) Is there any lesson to learn from the findings in the SPR on use
of more brittle soil nails such as carbon fibre soil nails with
much weaker shear or bending strength?
Responses
Additional numerical analysis has been conducted using the newly
acquired finite element program, PLAXIS. The result confirms the
findings given in the draft report. The work by Tan et al (2000) is mainly
based on the elastic and plastic analyses derived by previous researchers
(e.g. Pedley (1990), Jewell & Pedley (1991), Schlosser (1982) & Bridle
(1990)) and it does not provide any new insight. Anyway, a summary of
Tan el al (2000) has now been included in Appendix D of the final report.
The FLAC analysis is used to show the general trend of the lateral
deformations of the shotcrete facing. The values of deformation have
been rounded off to the nearest digit. It is the normal practice in
numerical modelling that the structures to be modelled are free from design
or construction defects unless stated otherwise. It serves no useful
purpose to include all trivial assumptions (such as crack free or uniform
section) in the report.
Design recommendations for carbon fibre nails will take into the
consideration of the findings of this study, e.g. the nails must be installed
as close to horizontal as practicable to ensure that the predominant action
of the nails is in tension.

Comments
B) I suppose the findings of the report applies to soil nails installed
in cut slope but not soil nails in loose fill which are typically
steeply inclined to hold down the loose fill at critical state.
2. Specific Comments
A) 1st para on page 7 The statement when the reinforcement is
oriented in the direction of compressive strain of the soil, ..
This leads to a decrease in the shear strength of the reinforced
soil seems to be overly generalised and does not tally with
Figure A2 in Appendix A, which seems to indicate an increase
in shear resistance as changes from 90 to 120 and a
decrease in shear strength as increases from 120 to 150.
B) Last para on page 14 .. bending and shear resistance have
always a limited effect on the global safety factor (less than
15%). Designers always opt for shallow inclination of nail (<
20) and, only as the last resort, opt for steep nail inclination,
e.g. to avoid hitting adjacent structures foundation or
encroaching onto private land. In these situations, an increase
in as little as 15% in global safety factor is sometimes sought
for. Perhaps, instead of discouraging although the steeply
inclined soil nails, more discussion could be given to elaborate
on how to make best use of such marginal increase in factor of
safety due to steeply inclined nails, e.g. if provision of stiff tie
-7-
Responses
The soil-nail interaction principles reviewed in the report are applicable to
soil nails in cut slope as well as loose fill slope. It should however be
noted that there are other considerations that make the design of nails in
loose fill different from that in cut slope, e.g. loose fill tends to contract
rather than to dilate when sheared, and in loose fill the nails together with
the structural facing/grillage must be able to retain the liquefied fill should
liquefaction failure occur.
Figure A2 shows the results of laboratory tests and theoretical analysis
undertaken by Jewell (1980). It is common in laboratory tests that there
is scatter of test data. In the Figure, there is only one data point that
deviates from the other test data and the theoretical line. This outlier
should not preclude the important conclusion drawn by Jewell in respect of
the relationship between soil strain and nail force. It should be noted that
separate and independent tests carried out by many other researchers (e.g.
Marchal (1986), Hayashi et al (1988), Palmeria and Milligan (1989) see
Appendix A) all confirm Jewells findings and demonstrate the importance
of nail orientation.
Design of steeply inclined soil nails requires careful consideration. To
increase the bending stiffness (EI) of the soil nails is one of the options.
No matter what options are taken, the design method must be appropriate
for the problem in hand. There are no simple guidelines for the design of
steep nails because it is a complicated stress strain problem with no easy
solution. As highlighted in the illustrative example given in Section 3.3
of the report, the conventional limit equilibrium approach would not be
able to produce satisfactory results for the steeply inclined nails, and can
give unsafe designs. The use of stress-strain analysis or other suitable
analytical tools would help designers produce safe designs.
 -8-

Comments Responses

beams across nails would enhance the bending strength of nails

and hence bring about bigger increase in global safety factor, if
situation warrants.

C) Figure 1 on page 24 Perhaps the lower nails could be drawn Figure amended.
steeper to illustrate better the negative scenario.

CGE/LPM3 (Y C Choi)

I note that a comment on the effect of length pattern of the soil nails
on the performance of nailed excavations is given in the last paragraph of
Section 6 of the draft SPR. Can comments also be given on the optimum
length pattern of soil nail scheme for upgrading of a typical existing cut
slope and the effect of length pattern on the performance of a nailed
existing slope?
The nail patterns described and discussed in the report are related to the
control of displacements of nailed excavation. For existing slopes, it is
seldom necessary to consider ground displacement. As such, nail pattern
is not a significant issue as long as slope stability is properly considered.

CGE/ME (P L R Pang)

The captioned report is a good piece of work.

2. I have the following comments for your consideration:

(a) Section 6, para 2 Suggest to delete at large deformations. Text amended.

(b) Section 6, para 4 Suggest to amend the first sentence to read Text amended.
Increasing the length of soil nails near the top of the nailed
excavation beyond the potential slip surface can be an effective
means to reduce its horizontal deformations and move this to the
end of the paragraph.

CGE/MW (Michael N K Chan)

I would like to offer the following comments for your consideration.

 -9-

Comments Responses

1.1 Section 3.2.2 & 3.3 it may not be easy to understand how to apply Text amended to include a brief description of the strength reduction
the strength reduction approach in the stability analyses. approach.
Presumably, the same set of shear strength parameters of soil should
be adopted in the limited equilibrium method and the FLAC
analyses. A brief explanation of this approach can help the readers
to understand how it works.

1.2 Section 3.3 I suggest revising the mixed feature in the 1st Text amended.
sentence to read feature of mixed maintenance responsibility.

1.3 Figure 9 it seems that the Fig 16(a) and Fig 16(b) mentioned in Figure amended.
the legend are referring to Fig 8(a) and Fig 8(b) respectively.

1.4 Figure 10 it is not clear whether the Nail force (kN/m) required As stated in the first paragraph of Section 3.3, a stabilizing force necessary
to attain FoS > 1.2 shown in the table is referring to the individual to attain the required FoS was calculated and this force was distributed
nail force (Tmax) or the total nail force (Tmax). evenly between the nails.

1.5 Figures 11, 12, 14 & 15, B1 to B8 and C1 to C6 it is most Agreed and amended.
desirable that the soil nail no. (e.g. #1(Cable)) can be shown in the
sections for easy reference.

1.6 Appendix B it is noted that the maximum tensile force of some Amended.
soil nails were not shown in the results of the FLAC Analysis, e.g.
#7(Cable) in Figures B1 & B3, #6(Cable) and #7(Cable) in Figures
B2, B4 & B8 and #5(Cable) to #7(Cable) in Figure B7. You may
wish to review whether the forces of these soil nails should be
shown.

1.7 Appendix D, Figure D1 it appears that there is a typo mistake in Agreed and amended.
the figure where the observed crack should be located at 2.5m,
instead of 25m, from the crest of the wall.
 - 10 -
Comments
CGE/P ( H N Wong)
We briefly discussed the subject in a Branch Chief Meeting some
two weeks ago. The report is a useful summary. But I think you realise
my concern about whether the results presented in the draft report are
sufficient to justify some of the conclusions made.
2. In particular, the effects of shear and bending stiffnesses (as well
as strength) of soil nails, which have been discussed among us in various
occasions, deserve further thoughts. I am not sure whether the numerical
modeling results like those shown in Figure 3 are clearly pointing to the
conclusion made in the report that shear and bending resistance of soil
nails have little contributions to the system .. Figure 3 shows, under
the conditions being modelled, a drastic drop in resistance when the nail
inclination exceeds about 30 degree. My concern is about whether the
conditions being modelled is representative of the circumstances of our soil
nail application, and about whether in our cases a different pattern of
change in resistance (e.g. would it start dropping at less steep nail
inclination) could exist. For example, what was the failure mode that was
being modelled in Figure 3 apparently not pull-out failure. Could the
pattern of change in resistance differ significantly from that shown in
Figure 3 if the pull-out failure mode is being modelled? Also, what if the
failure, like many of those that occur on weathered soil/rock, is controlled
by relict discontinuities, whereas the rest of the slope forming-materials are
much stronger and not failing at the limit state of nail pull-out or structural
failure? What if the slope face is much steeper? What if there is a
greater contrast in stiffness within the slope, at the failure plane? In these
circumstance, would the conclusion that shear and bending resistance of
soil nails have little contributions to the system . Still hold?
Responses
Figure 3 is derived from the FLAC analysis which has not considered the
bending stiffness of the soil nails. This Figure together with Figure 7
illustrate the effect of nail inclination on development of nail axial force
distribution and stability improvement of slopes. General shear failure of
the soil within the reinforced zone was modeled in the analysis. It is a
common practice in numerical simulations that only one failure mode is
modeled at one time. Confusion would arise if there are more than one
variable. To avoid such confusion, long nails with large bar diameters
were used in the analysis to ensure that pullout failure and tensile failure
would not control.
Additional numerical analysis has been carried out using the newly
acquired finite element programme PLAXIS. The result of the additional
analysis is presented and discussed in Section 4.4 of the Final Report.
Unlike the previous FLAC analysis, the PLAXIS analysis takes into
consideration the bending stiffness of the soil nails and as such, the shear
forces and bending moments in the nails can be determined. Result of the
PLAXIS analysis shows that only small shear forces are mobilized in the
nails and their contribution to slope stability is insignificant when the nail
inclination is small. This is consistent with the results of the previous
experimental tests, theoretical analysis and field monitoring results
reported by other researchers (please see Appendix D of the Final Report).
It should be noted that the shear forces that can be developed is limited by
the low bending strength of the nails.
 - 11 -
Comments
3. It would be great if we can establish some threshold nail
inclinations, within which there is little to worry about shear and bending
(note: this does not necessarily imply that shear and bending have little
contribution to the resistance, e.g. nail pull out resistance, of the system),
and perhaps beyond which particular checks on nailed slope design using
some recommended methodology are warranted. I have a feel that more
work is probably needed for us to more comfortably define such thresholds
and better appreciate their implications.
4. We also discussed about whether shear and bending stiffnesses (as
well as strength) of the soil nail could affect the pull-out resistance.
Logically, they should. This may be further examined by numerical
modeling and by model/full-scale tests.
Responses
The result of the PLAXIS (Figures 27 & 28) is very similar to that shown
in Figure 3. This demonstrates that the increase in FoS of the slope is
mostly controlled by the amount of axial tensile forces that can be
developed in the nail, and that it is insensitive to shear resistances in the
nails. If the FLAC and PLAXIS analyses are repeated on slopes of
different geometry, the pattern in respect of the relationship between FoS
and the nail inclination should be similar to that shown in Figure 3.
For joint control type of failure, the resistance mode of the nail should rely
relatively more on the shear resistance in the nail.
If the nails are placed in sub-horizontal direction (less than 20o), the
predominant action of the nail is in tension and as such, only the tensile
capacity may need to be considered. This approach is commonly used in
overseas design standards. As nail inclination increases, the shear and
bending forces induced in the nails will become more significant. For
steeply inclined nails, such forces should not be ignored and should be
properly assessed to ensure that the nails have the necessary structural
capacity to sustain the combined loads of tension (or compression), shear
and bending.
Pull-out resistance of nails is beyond the scope of the present study. This
subject will be reviewed separately.
 - 12 -

Comments Responses

5. No doubt your team is investigating deep into the relevant issues, Noted.
and should be in the best position to making further advances. I would
support that more work be done to further improve our understanding and
consolidate our position regarding the key issues. There seems to be a
need to continue with more tests and modeling, as well as to critically
examine the results and their relevance and implications to the problems
being studied.

SGE/GAU, HyD (H T Wong)

I have the following comments on the captioned draft report:

(i) Re Section 3.4.3 as shown in Figure 21, a sharp increase in Text amended.
deformation would induce whenincreases from 25 to 30, rather
than from 20 to 25.

(ii) Re Section 5, 4th para should . Required for reinforcement Text amended.
shear force. be read as required for mobilising shear force.?

(iii) Re Section 5, 5th para suggest to elaborate on under what situation Text amended to indicate that check should be carried out for steeply
that the shear and bending capacity of the steel soil nails are inclined nails.
required to be checked.

(iv) Re pages 22 and 27 Figure No. 4, Distriction should be Figures amended.

amended to read Distribution.