Effect of wall facing type on the bearing performance of MSE walls subjected to surcharge loads

In the current design code for Mechanically Stabilized Earth (MSE) walls, the influence of the wall facing is not considered in the bearing capacity analysis. Therefore, comparative centrifugal model tests were conducted on MSE walls with full-height rigid facing and modular block facing, in conjunction with the finite element limit analysis (FELA) method to evaluate bearing capacity. The results indicate that the difference in bearing capacity between the wall with full-height rigid facing and that with modular block facing is significant, particularly when the reinforcement strength is low, the vertical spacing is large, and the length is short, with the peak relative difference approaching 20%. Although the influence of wall facing on bearing capacity becomes more pronounced with stronger toe constraints, the difference in bearing capacity among different wall facing types does not exceed 6%. The bearing capacity exhibits an inverted V-shaped distribution as the surcharge load moves away from the wall face. It is recommended to use full-height rigid facing to enhance the bearing capacity for walls with reinforcement lengths greater than half the height of the wall, and surcharge load positions greater than 0.5 times the length of the reinforcement material.