Diaphragm walls (Milano walls, Slurry Walls) are linear structures, which are used to shore deep excavations. These structures are most often used as constructional walls. At first this structure acts as a shoring wall during the construction, then it becomes a part of the basement walls. Diaphragm walls are made by excavating a trench using appropriate machinery and filling the trench with a suitable material (usually concrete).
Diaphragm retaining walls are often used as sealing structures – then the filling material used is self-hardening suspension. This suspension is quite strong and primarily fills a waterproof function. Its waterproofness can in certain cases be improved using plastic foil.
According to their purpose, diaphragm walls are divided into:
- Constructional
- Sealing
- Shoring
According to the manufacturing technology, diaphragm walls are divided into:
- Monolithic
- Prefabricated
The GEO5 Sheeting Check program is used to make advanced designs of anchored or strutted diaphragm retaining walls (also sheet pile, soldier pile or pile walls are supported). It allows the user to model the real structure behavior using stages of construction, to calculate the deformation and pressures acting upon the structure, to verify the internal anchor stability or to verify steel, RC or timber cross-sections and the bearing capacity of the anchors.
The GEO5 Sheeting Design program is used to perform a quick design of cantilevered diaphragm walls or a basic design of anchored diaphragm walls (tieback). The program calculates the required length of the structure in soil, the internal forces on the structure and verifies cross-sections (RC, steel, vinyl, timber).
Programs provide different types of soil anchors. Pre-stressed bar anchors (VSL, Dywidag), strand anchors (VSL, Dywidag), helical anchors (Helical Anchors Ltd, Chance, MacLean), anchor bars (VSL, Minova), deadman anchors. Parameters of anchors are included in database, which is a part of programs.
Further sources:
Engineering Manual - Verification of a multi-anchored retaining wall
Video Tutorial - Designing a Retaining Wall in Sheeting Design
Video Tutorial - Designing a Anchored Diaphragm Retaining Wall in Sheeting Check