Investigation of strength properties of random rubble masonry for design optimization

Abstract

Presently the conventional design methods are used in the design of Random Rubble Masonry (RRM) retaining walls due to lack of knowledge on design strength properties of RRM. Use of conventional methods in design of RRM retaining walls results larger sectional areas of retaining walls which lead to higher construction costs. This paper describes the research study carried out to investigate the characteristic compressive strength, flexural strength and shear strength of RRM, which are needed for the design optimization of RRM retaining walls. Analytical study was carried out for the design optimization of a RRM retaining wall using the strength results obtained from experimental study. Further, the number of steps in the cross section of RRM wall has been varied to study the effect of variation of number of steps on design optimization. It is found that the cross-sectional area can be reduced by increasing the number of steps in the retaining wall. The reduction in the cross sectional area is not significant when the number of steps is more than three. The results show that the cross-sectional area of the RRM retaining wall can be considerably reduced by considering the flexural strength capacity of the RRM in the design.