This study numerically investigates the combined effect of different controlling factors on the shape of the distribution of the maximum reinforcement load, Tmax, in reinforced soil walls (RSWs) under working stress conditions. The numerical study carried out using PLAXIS was first validated against data from wrapped and block reinforced soil walls built at Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, COPPE/UFRJ and the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC), respectively. The parametric study was then performed considering different factors such as reinforcement and facing stiffness, wall height, compaction-induced stress, foundation conditions and toe resistance. The results of the parametric study show that the shape of the distribution of the reinforcement load may be a function of the combined effect of the mentioned controlling factors considered in the current study. For a given facing stiffness with toe restriction, increasing the height of the wall and reinforcement stiffness may change the distribution shape of the reinforcement load from trapezoidal to the triangular. The importance of the toe restriction on the distribution shape of the reinforcement load may be highly influenced by the wall height. For a short wall with high toe restriction, the shape of the Tmax with depth is trapezoidal. Moreover, the compaction-induced stress may significantly affect the distribution shape of Tmax depending on the magnitude of the compaction effort and wall height.
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