📺Complex Retaining Wall Design in Minutes [WEBINAR RECORDING]

Posted on February 20th, 2020 in Webinars

Summary

This webinar recording from MasterSeries Software introduces their modular engineering software, specifically focusing on the Retaining Walls module. The presentation highlights the software's comprehensive capabilities, demonstrating how users can design various retaining wall types, including concrete, propped, and reinforced masonry, and even specialized solutions like "Steep Park" hollow block walls and gabions. A key emphasis is placed on the detailed input for soil data, loading conditions, and reinforcement design, showcasing how the software helps engineers ensure stability and structural integrity under different scenarios. The speaker also points out the extensive learning resources available, such as manuals, tutorials, and video guides, and offers a free trial and personalized demonstrations to encourage users to explore the MasterSeries Retaining Walls program.

Key Concepts

• Retaining Wall Design
• Masterseries Software
• Wall types and loading
• Reinforcement and Stability
• Software trial and Support

Decription

This source describes a webinar on MasterSeries 2019.15, specifically focusing on its Retaining Wall design program, which is a standalone module within the MasterSeries suite.

Here's a summary of the key features and capabilities discussed:

• Modular Approach: MasterSeries employs a modular design, meaning users only purchase the specific programs they need, such as retaining walls, steel design, or masonry.

• User Interface and Resources:

    ◦ The software features a front screen with announcements, recent files, and access to extensive learning resources.

    ◦ Resources include manuals, tutorials, and video guides (accessed via the website) that offer step-by-step instructions for various wall types, from basic concrete to cavity reinforced masonry and propped/tied walls.

    ◦ Users can also submit support questions.

• Retaining Wall Design Process:

    ◦ The process starts with defining basic geometry (height, projection, width, lower soil, water table).

    ◦ Soil data is crucial, allowing for definition of back soil (friction, cohesion, density, submerged ratio), bearing pressures (front and back), and multiple soil layers (upper and lower, with varying slopes and potential tension cracks for clays).

    ◦ The design progresses iteratively, adjusting heel and toe dimensions to achieve stability against sliding, overturning, and bearing pressure.

    ◦ Reinforcement design considers concrete and steel grades, cover, and bar sizes and spacing (e.g., 12T@100 for wall and base steel). The software provides a capacity line to guide rebar selection.

    ◦ Design codes supported include EC2 (concrete), EC7 (loading), and EC6 (retaining walls), along with British Standards (BS) for some applications. The software applies Eurocode equilibrium and mobilization factors for safety, rather than explicit factors of safety.

• Types of Retaining Walls and Features:

    ◦ Basic Concrete Walls: Demonstrated with iterative adjustments for stability and reinforcement.

    ◦ Propped Walls: Walls with props at the base (to resist sliding) and/or top (to resist overturning) allow for thinner walls and less reinforcement. This is useful for basement walls.

    ◦ Walls with Sloping Soil and Multiple Layers: Handles complex soil profiles, varying slope angles, and the impact of water table height on pressure diagrams.

    ◦ Tapered Walls and Nibs: Allows for tapered front or back faces, and the introduction of nibs, though nibs are noted as often inefficient due to how pressure is distributed.

    ◦ Reinforced Masonry Walls (Filled Cavity): Supports the design of masonry walls with vertical rebar in a filled cavity. The strength of the blockwork (e.g., 10.4N blocks) significantly affects capacity.

    ◦ Stepped Walls: Designs stepped masonry walls, which rely on depth, weight, and lever arm, and are typically suitable for smaller applications.

    ◦ Complex Loading:

        ▪ Loads on Soil: Accommodates strip foundations (e.g., from a house) or vehicle axles, which are calculated using wedge theory through the soil.

        ▪ Point Loads on Wall: Allows direct application of point loads onto the wall.

        ▪ Point Loads Outside Wall: Supports loads from brackets or other external fixtures, including point moments.

        ▪ Partial UDLs and Horizontal Loads: Can apply partial uniformly distributed loads (UDLs) along the wall and horizontal surge or wind loads, as well as barrier loads (e.g., from highways).

    ◦ Highway Loading: Integrates British Standard (BS) highway loading (e.g., HA or HB loads) for walls adjacent to highways and bridge abutments, considering specific load factors and classes of loads.

    ◦ SteepPark Walls: Pre-configured designs for specific hollow block systems (200, 256, 325mm sizes) that allow quick creation of single-leaf walls with rebar and no shuttering. These designs can be pulled from a user database.

    ◦ Gabion Walls: Can be designed using a "lateral thinking" approach by setting concrete tensile strength to zero and rebar to none, adjusting dimensions to ensure stability according to British Standards. Requires a small concrete base for software functionality.

    ◦ Counterfort/Pier Walls: Supports the design of walls with stiffeners or piers, which can be in compression or tension.

• Finite Element (FE) Integration: For retaining walls within larger structures (e.g., basements of steel buildings), the software can integrate a finite element wall and base into a frame analysis. This allows for detailed analysis of soil pressures (linear, hydrostatic), member loading, and shell element results, including deflections (X, Y, Z displacements) and reinforcement requirements within a 3D context.

• CAD Export and Scheduling: Designed walls can be exported to DXF/DWG for AutoCAD, including details like starter bars and main bars. A rebar schedule can also be generated.

• PowerPad Version: A limited version of MasterSeries, PowerPad, includes only reinforced concrete or plain masonry retaining walls. It does not include reinforced masonry, additional loading, or highway loading. Users can upgrade to the full version with a discount.

• Trial and Demonstrations: MasterSeries offers a 14-day free trial of the software and modules, along with options to book personal one-to-one demonstrations