Seismic analysis of semi-gravity RC cantilever retaining wall with TDA backfill

Abstract

The seismic behavior of Tire Derived Aggregate (TDA) used as backfill material of 6.10 m high retaining walls was investigated based on nonlinear time-history Finite Element Analysis (FEA). The retaining walls were semi-gravity reinforced concrete cantilever type. In the backfill, a 2.74 m thick conventional soil layer was placed over a 3.06 m thick TDA layer. For comparison purpose, a conventional all soil-backfill model was also developed, and the analysis results from the two models under the Northridge and Takatori earthquakes were compared. The FEA results showed that both models did not experience major damage in the backfill under the Northridge earthquake. However, under the Takatori earthquake, the TDA-backfill model developed substantially large displacement in the retaining walls and in the backfill compared with the soil-backfill model. Regions of large plastic strain were mainly formed in the TDA layer, and the soil over the TDA layer did not experience such large plastic strain, suggesting less damage than the soil-backfill model. In addition, the acceleration on the backfill surface of the TDA-backfill model decreased substantially compared with the soil-backfill model. If an acceleration sensitive structure is placed on the surface of the backfill, the TDA backfill may induce less damage to it.

Keywords

TDA (Tire Derived Aggregate) / scrap tires / retaining wall / seismic analysis / Finite Element Analysis

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Acknowledgements

The present research was partially sponsored by California’s Department of Resource Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle), in cooperation with California Department of Transportation (Caltrans). The opinions and conclusions expressed in this paper are those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent those of the sponsors.

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