This paper presents a discrete element method (DEM) investigation into the load transfer mechanisms and failure surfaces of geosynthetics reinforced soil (GRS) bridge abutments. A local strain-dependent reinforcement contact model is developed to accurately simulate the nonlinear tensile behavior of reinforcement. The study analyzes both the macroscopic deformation response and the microscopic fabric evolution of backfill soil under bridge load. The findings reveal that as the bridge load increases, the micro-bearing structure of the soil within the potential failure surface evolves through progressive loss of effective contacts, particle rotation, and fabric reorganization. These micromechanical phenomena underlie the development of shear bands and the global failure mechanism of GRS abutments. Furthermore, a parametric analysis is conducted to evaluate the effects of reinforcement stiffness, reinforcement vertical spacing, and backfill soil friction angle on failure surfaces of GRS abutments. The results demonstrate that higher reinforcement stiffness constrains failure surface development, while wider reinforcement spacing and lower soil friction angles lead to deeper and more pronounced failure surfaces. Overall, the study highlights the critical role of reinforcement-soil interactions and micromechanical processes in determining the deformation and failure surfaces of GRS bridge abutments.

This study investigates the deformation characteristics of geosynthetic reinforced soil (GRS) bridge abutment models under cyclic loading conditions through experimental methods. The GRS abutment models were built using well-graded sand as backfill material and biaxial geogrid for reinforcement. Settlements of the footings, displacements of the facing, and strains in the reinforcements were monitored and analyzed. The findings show that cumulative settlements increase as the cyclic load amplitude rises. Furthermore, facing displacement tends to increase with height, reaching its maximum at the top. The cyclic loading amplitude affects the strains in the upper reinforcements more significantly than those in the lower reinforcements.

This study assesses the seismic fragility curves of in-service piled bridge abutments on liquefaction-prone soils and evaluates an optimal countermeasure within the vulnerability framework. Seismic fragility curves, accounting for varying ground motion intensities, assess the seismic risk and describe abutment damage through settlement measurements. The ageing abutment performance is estimated by integrating a corrosion model into fragility curves. The impact of different sheet pile positions on the seismic performance of in-service piled bridge abutments is analysed, and the optimal pile position is discussed. The developed fragility curves provide a rapid and effective risk assessment tool for the seismic performance of in-service abutments and guide liquefaction remedial measures.

Traffic-induced cyclic loading generates repetitive stresses and cumulative deformations on the GRS abutments, which affect the serviceability of GRS abutments. To evaluate the stress distribution of GRS abutments under cyclic traffic loading, this paper presents reduced-scale GRS abutment models constructed with sand backfill and geogrid reinforcements. The GRS abutment models were subjected to staged cyclic loading with different cyclic loading amplitudes to investigate the influences of cyclic loading amplitude, bridge superstructure load, and reinforcement vertical spacing on the dynamic soil stress distributions. The results indicate that the increase in residual stresses due to stress redistribution induced by cyclic loading is most pronounced at the top of the abutment, while there is little stress redistribution down to the foundation level. Increasing the static load of bridge superstructure or the amplitude of cyclic loading results in an increase in the incremental dynamic vertical soil stresses. Reinforcement vertical spacing does not significantly impact the incremental dynamic vertical soil stresses under cyclic loading, while the cyclic load has the most significant influence. Closer reinforcement vertical spacing could provide stronger lateral confinement, resulting in larger dynamic lateral soil stresses behind wall facing.

This paper presents an experimental study on reduced scale geosynthetic reinforced soil (GRS) abutment models subjected to cyclic traffic loading, aimed at investigating the influences of cyclic load amplitude, self-weight of bridge superstructure, and reinforcement vertical spacing on the cumulative deformations. The GRS abutment models were constructed using sand backfill and geogrid reinforcement. A static load was first applied to account for the self-weight of bridge superstructure, and then the cyclic loads were applied in several phases with increasing amplitude. The results indicate that significant cumulative footing settlement under cyclic loading mainly occurs within the first few hundred loading cycles, and the settlement increases with increasing cyclic load amplitude. The cyclic load amplitude and reinforcement vertical spacing have significant impacts on the cumulative deformations of GRS abutments under cyclic loading. The maximum facing displacement under cyclic loading occurs near the top of the wall. The cyclic load has a greater impact on the reinforcement strains near the upper middle reinforcement layers, while it has a smaller impact on the lower reinforcement layers.