الفهرس 
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Abstract
Mechanically Stabilized Earth (MSE) walls have been widely used instead of the conventional wall types over the last few decades, MSE walls should be designed for internal stability and external stability. Conventional design methods are presented in FHWA, AASHTO and NCMA. Considering connection stability, the methods presented in these codes are quite similar in aspects of using conventional lateral earth pressure and the determination of the required connection strength at facing related to the maximum required reinforcement strength. It has been widely argued that current design methods are conservative in the determination of the maximum reinforcement tensions. Although new methodologies such as the K-stiffness method have been developed to bridge these apparent gaps, connection failure mode is not included in these methods. Therefore, through a numerical analysis and using the Finite Element Method (FEM), this study presents a model verification for the end of construction connection loads of a well measured reinforced soil wall that was constructed at the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC). After that, parametric studies are conducted. Based on the parametric studies, an adequate number of charts are developed to reflect the effect of various parameters such as the inclusion of secondary strips, wall face batter, facing stiffness…etc. on the required connection strengths. Moreover, comparisons between the computed connection loads (FEM) and the predicted connection loads (LEM) are presented. Results reveal that the computed connection loads (FEM) represent just about one third of the predicted connection loads (LEM). The effects of other parameters in limiting these loads are either ignored or heavily underestimated by current design guidelines.
Keywords: Finite Element Modelling, MSE walls, Connection stability.