Reduced-Scale Shaking Table Tests on Geosynthetic-Reinforced Soil Walls with Modular Facing
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 140, Issue 6
Abstract
Reduced-scale shaking table testing is a useful tool for understanding the seismic behavior of geosynthetic-reinforced soil walls. This paper presents the results from a series of reduced-scale shaking table tests on eight different configurations. The effects of change in peak ground acceleration, reinforcement length and spacing, model scale, treatment of the top two facing block layers on the accelerations on a wall face, maximum displacements of the wall face during shaking, permanent displacements, and strains in reinforcement are investigated. Maximum accelerations measured on the wall face during shaking increased from bottom to top. Geotextile length and spacing did not affect the maximum accelerations and face displacements when the geotextile length met the minimum requirements of established design procedures. No significant permanent displacements were observed. Decreasing the geotextile length and increasing the geotextile spacing increased the geotextile strains when the geotextile was long enough to provide anchorage beyond the potential failure surface.
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Acknowledgments
This study was supported by Bogazici University (Scientific Research Project BAP03A404) and TUBITAK (Scientific Research Project MAG-103I005).
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© 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: May 3, 2013
Accepted: Jan 31, 2014
Published online: Mar 3, 2014
Published in print: Jun 1, 2014
Discussion open until: Aug 3, 2014
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