Seismic response of flexible cantilever retaining walls with dry backfill

S. P.G. Madabhushi, X. Zeng

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

38 Scopus citations

Abstract

Failure of retaining walls during earthquakes has occurred many times in the past. Although significant progress has been made in analysing the seismic response of rigid gravity type retaining walls, considerable difficulties still exist in the seismic-resistant design of the flexible cantilever type of retaining walls because of the complex nature of the dynamic soil–structure interaction. In this paper the seismic response of cantilever retaining walls with dry backfill is simulated using centrifuge modelling and numerical modelling. It is found that bending moments on the wall increased significantly during an earthquake. After the end of base shaking, the residual moment on the wall was significantly higher than the moment under static loading. The numerical simulation is able to model quite accurately the main characteristics of acceleration, bending moment, and displacement recorded in the centrifuge test.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)275-289
Number of pages15
JournalGeomechanics and Geoengineering
Volume1
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2006

Keywords

  • Bending moments
  • Cantilever retaining walls
  • Earthquakes
  • Numerical simulation
  • Seismic response

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