Dynamic response law about gravity retaining wall to seismic characteristics and earth fill properties

Abstract

In order to find the dynamic response laws of retaining walls affected by certain earthquake loads, the influence of the seismic wave characteristics and sub-grade fill parameters (including the foundation surface slope) were focused on, and a series of tests were performed. The results show that the maximum stress of the retaining wall decreases as internal friction angle, foundation slope, filled soil cohesion and the biggest dynamic elastic modulus increase, while it increases with the seismic frequency and seismic input peak dropping. The addition value of dynamics earth pressure increases when seismic frequency and seismic input peak are reduced, while it decreases when the filled soil cohesion and internal friction angle rise. Meanwhile, dynamic elastic modulus and foundation slope have no obvious influences on addition value of dynamics earth pressure. The slope will be instable if the seismic input peak exceeds 0.5g and be disruptive if seismic frequency is larger than 2.5 Hz. The mid-lower parts of retaining walls are in most heavy and obvious response to these factors, which reveals the mechanism of “belly burst” in retaining wall that appears commonly in practical projects.

Keywords

retaining wall / earthquake characteristics / earth fill / dynamic response

References

[1] Subba RaoK. S., ChoudhuryD.. Seismic passive earth pressures in soils [J]. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, 2005, 131(1): 131-135

[2] SoubraA. H.. Static and seismic passive earth pressure coefficients on rigid retaining structures [J]. Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 2000, 37: 463-478

[3] ChengY. M.. Seismic lateral earth pressure coefficients for c-φ soils by slip line method [J]. Computers and Geotechnics, 2003, 30: 661-670

[4] KumarJ.. Seismic passive earth pressure coefficients for sands [J]. Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 2001, 38: 876-881

[5] BenmebarekS., KhelifaT., BenmebarekS.. Numerical evaluation of 3D passive earth pressure coefficients for retaining wall subjected to translation [J]. Computer and Geotechnics, 2008, 35: 47-60

[6] WangL.-q., WangY.-z., ChiL.-hua.. Distribution of seismic soil pressure on a retaining wall [J]. China Harbour Engineering, 2007, 5: 1-5

[7] WangL.-y., LiuH.-long.. Study of seismic active earth pressure acted on gravity wall in backfill sand [J]. China Journal of Highway and Transport, 2009, 22(6): 26-33

[8] YangJ., WangR.-w., ShenY., PengX.-jun.. Analytical solution of seismic passive earth pressure for negative friction angle of wall-soil interface [J]. Chinese Journal of Geotechnical Engineering, 2011, 33(5): 785-791

[9] WangY.-m., BathurstR. J.. Horizontal slice method for force and displacement analysis of EPS geofoam seismic buffers for rigid retaining walls [J]. China Civil Engineering Journal, 2008, 41(10): 73-80

[10] YaoD.-cheng.. Retaining wall seismic failure analysis [J]. Engineering Journal of Wuhan University, 2003, 36(2): 82-87

[11] WangF.-t., TaoX.-x., DingLin.. Seismic permanent displacement of rigid retaining walls with cohesive backfill [J]. Journal of Shenyang Jianzhu University: Natural Science, 2008, 24(2): 244-247

[12] LiuH.-bei.. Internal stability analysis of segmental geosynthetic-reinforced soil retaining walls subjected to seismic loading [J]. Chinese Journal of Geotechnical Engineering, 2008, 30(2): 278-283

[13] LiuH.-bei.. Elasto-plastic finite element analysis of geogrid-reinforced sandy soil retaining walls considering effect of creep and earthquake [J]. Chinese Journal of Geotechnical Engineering, 2007, 29(6): 917-921

[14] LiuH.-bei.. Analysis on seismic behavior of geogrid-reinforced retaining wall subjected to horizontal and vertical excitation [J]. Chinese Journal of Geotechnical Engineering, 2006, 28(5): 294-299

[15] LingH.-i., YangS.-t., LeshchinskyD.. Finite-element simulations of full-scale modular-block reinforced soil retaining walls under earthquake loading [J]. Journal of Engineering Mechanics, 2010, 136(5): 653-661

[16] SOUBRA A H. Static and seismic passive earth pressure coefficients on rigid retaining structures [J]. Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 2000, (37): 463–478.

[17] LiY., YangG.-l., LinY.-liang.. Dynamic characteristics reinforced gabion walls subjected to horizontal seismic loading [J]. Chinese Journal of Geotechnical Engineering, 2009, 31(12): 1930-1935

[18] ZhouJ., JinW.-feng.. Coupled approach based numerical simulation of a retaining wall under seismic excitation [J]. Rock and Soil Mechanics, 2010, 31(12): 3949-3957

[19] WuC.-s., XuZ.-p., ChenXin.. Dynamic stability analysis of gravity retaining walls under blast-induced vibration [J]. Chinese Journal of Rock Mechanics and Engineering, 2003, 22(11): 1939-1942

[20] ChenX.-liang.Fluctuation simulation analysis of Seismic response of retaining wall [D], 2001, Harbin, Engineering Mechanics Research Institute of China Seismological Bureau

[21] ChenX.-l., YuanY.-fan.. Explicit integration formula for vibration equation and its accuracy and stability [J]. Earthquake Engineering and Engineering Vibration, 2002, 22(3): 9-14

[22] ChenX.-l., YuanY.-fan.. Fluctuation simulation of Seismic response of retaining wall [C]. Progress of Modern Earthquake Engineering, 2002, Nanjing, Southeast University Press: 266-271

[23] YuanY.-f., ChenX.-liang.. Fluctuation simulation analysis of Seismic response of retaining wall [C]. Earthquake Engineering and Earthquake Preparedness and Disaster Reduction in New Century, 2002, Beijing, Earthquake Press: 585-579

[24] ChenX.-l., YuanY.-fan.. Nonlinear wave propagation simulation of seismic response of retaining wall [J]. Earthquake Engineering and Engineering Vibration, 2003, 23(4): 9-16

[25] SamanA., BathurstR. J.. Numerical modeling of EPS seismic buffer shaking table tests [J]. Geotexiles and Geomembranes, 2008, 26: 371-383

[26] Highway Planning and Design Institute of the Ministry of Communications. Anti-seismic design code for highway engineering. JTJ 004-1989 [S]. Beijing: China Communications Press, 1989.