Earthquake Response of Connected and Unconnected Back-to-Back Geosynthetic-Reinforced Soil Walls
Publication: International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 21, Issue 11
Abstract
A two-dimensional finite-element analysis based on PLAXIS 2D was used to study the behavior of connected and unconnected back-to-back mechanically stabilized earth walls under earthquake loading. The numerical model was first validated with the results from the full-scale dynamic centrifuge tests on reinforced soil-retaining walls. The behavior of connected and closely spaced unconnected back-to-back mechanically stabilized earth walls (BBMSE) was compared in terms of tensile forces mobilized in geogrids, and the lateral earth pressures and maximum displacements of the wall. The total seismic earth thrusts at the end of the reinforced zone and at the facing of BBMSE walls and their points of application were presented. These results were compared with the widely used Mononobe–Okabe method. The connected walls were found to significantly reduce the dynamic loads on the walls compared with those on unconnected walls.
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Acknowledgments
The first author gratefully acknowledges the Algerian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research for funding his Ph.D. program. The first author also thanks the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad for cohosting his Ph.D. research work.
Notation
The following symbols are used in this paper:
- a
- acceleration;
- c
- cohesion;
- D
- distance between two opposing walls;
- E
- Young’s modulus;
- f
- frequency of the seismic input motion;
- fmax
- maximum frequency of the seismic input motion;
- fn
- natural frequency of soil mass;
- g
- acceleration due to gravity;
- H
- height of the retaining wall;
- h
- point of application of the dynamic thrust;
- K
- stiffness matrix of the system;
- KA
- earth pressure coefficient;
- KAE
- total (static and dynamic) earth pressure coefficient;
- L
- reinforcement length;
- M
- mass matrix of the system;
- PA
- static active earth pressure;
- PAE
- total thrust (static and dynamic);
- Rinter
- interface strength reduction factor;
- SH
- horizontal spacing between reinforcements;
- SV
- vertical spacing between reinforcements;
- Tmax
- maximum tensile force in each reinforcement;
- vs
- shear wave velocity;
- z
- height of the stem;
- α, β
- Rayleigh damping parameters;
- γ
- unit weight of the soil;
- ΔKAE
- incremental dynamic earth pressure coefficient;
- ΔPAE
- incremental dynamic earth thrust;
- Δx
- lateral displacement of the facing;
- δ′
- interface friction angle;
- λmin
- wavelength of shear wave;
- ν
- Poisson’s ratio;
- σh
- effective vertical pressure;
- φ
- friction angle of backfill; and
- ψ
- dilatancy angle.
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Published In
International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 21 • Issue 11 • November 2021
Copyright
© 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Sep 29, 2020
Accepted: Jul 29, 2021
Published online: Sep 15, 2021
Published in print: Nov 1, 2021
Discussion open until: Feb 15, 2022
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