Material model effects on excavation support systems

The design of deep excavation support systems is one of the main subjects of today's Geotechnical Engineering. In the design, numerous empirical formulas and various approaches are given in the literature. With the development of computer technology, numerical analysis and solutions have a wider field nowadays. Numerical analysis of deep excavation systems use various soil models. However, the studies and field measurements show that models using limit analysis method and the numerous empirical formulas given in the literature are far from real results. In this study, a modeling study was performed with the PLAXIS program that is widely used finite element program all over the world in order to compare different types of soil models. Real deep excavation support system analysis was conducted by using the classic Mohr-Coulomb Model (MC) and the advanced soil models such as Hardening Soil Model (HS), Hardening Soil Small Strain Model (HS_ss) gained popularity in recent years. Field measurements and analysis results were compared and different soil model performances were investigated according to site conditions. As a result of the thesis study, Mohr-Coulomb Model analysis results are far away from real measurement values and Hardening Soil Model and Hardening Soil Small Strain Model have shown much better results.