Abstract
Mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) techniques have proven to offer reliable and cost-effective solutions to many poor and unstable ground problems. However, till now there are many uncertainties regarding the selection of appropriate types of reinforcement and the evaluation of design parameters for MSE wall structures. This paper presents the results of a significant programme of large-scale laboratory tests conducted to examine the performance of two types of soil reinforcement namely smooth plain steel and ribbed steel strips. The reinforcements were subjected to a series of axial static and slow repeated loading under different levels of normal stress and their ultimate pullout capacity were determined. The mechanics of load mobilization at the soil-reinforcement interface and the failure modes of the reinforcements were analyzed. In general, the results showed that ribbed steel strips are more load efficient and safer reinforcements than smooth steel strips under both static and repeated loading.