Rubble wall design

Hi,
I'm looking for design of rubble wall, especially on the size of rock & thickness of the wall with respect to the wall height. How does the friction between the rocks & strength of the cement mortar come into play? Is there any documentation on the mechanism of a rubble wall? I come acrossed references for gravity walls but there's no in depth explaination on how the rocks are held together.
In fact, I have the same question for gabions; how's the wire mesh cage is designed &
what size of rocks to be used?

 

[ishvaaag]

Look for links within search

http://www.google.com/search?hl=es&q=%22rubble+wall%22+design&btnG=B%FAsqueda+en+Google&lr=

I may add that the analysis specifications customary in Spain -mostly derived through recommended code PIET-70- , be for rammed earth, adobe, brick, stone or masonry units are just the same. Only the material characteristics cause different results.

 

Usually gravity walls are proportioned so that the weight of the wall alone provides stability and also counteracts the flexural tension from the backfill. Therefore, if you cut sections along the height of the wall and check the flexural stresses, P/A +/- M/S there should be no tension on the back face of the wall. If there is tension, then you should increase the batter of the wall to increase the weight(and thickness). If there is tension in the wall, theorhetically, you could use reinforcing, but it will be difficult to actually to this in the field.

As far as rock size is concerned, you should use the biggest rocks available. The grout is mainly used to resist shearing forces and to hold the rocks together - it has very little tensile strength.