Abstract: GRS (Geosynthetic Reinforced Soil) Structures differ from MSE (Mechanically Stabilized Earth) structures in terms of force mechanism and structural performance. GRS structures are featured with smaller reinforcement spacing and higher compactness degree. The reinforcement spacing of GRS structure usually does not exceed 30 cm and the compactness degree is over 95%, while MSE structure which is commonly used in engineering is characterized by large reinforcement spacing. Through model tests, the behaviors of GRS and MSE structures are investigated and compared in aspects of vertical settlement, lateral displacement, and reinforcement strain. Test results reveal that GRS structures suffer from smaller lateral displacement and smaller yet more evenly-distributed strain of reinforcement than MSE structures, which further verifies the evident difference in structural performance between the two structures. In addition, theoretical analysis is also carried out in this study and theoretical calculation results are compared with some of the test results. The comparison demonstrates that current evaluation methods for MSE structures do not suit for GRS structures. In conclusion, such structural differences should be fully considered in engineering design.

Key words: reinforced soil, Geosynthetic Reinforced Soil (GRS) structure, Mechanically Stabilized Earth (MSE) structure, model test, differences in performance, evaluation methods