Improved Estimation of the Seismically Induced Active Earth Thrust on a Cantilever Retaining Wall at the Preliminary Design Stage
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 150, Issue 12
Abstract
Numerical investigation of free-standing cantilever walls subjected to horizontal seismic loads was carried out using nonlinear elastoplastic finite-element approach. The numerical model was validated using centrifuge tests and a numerical study. This study emphasizes the acceleration response, deformation mechanism, and active earth thrust () of seismically induced cantilever retaining walls. A detailed parametric study was conducted to analyze the effect of the entire earthquake motion, wall dimensions, and soil characteristics on the active earth thrust behind the wall stem () and along the virtual plane passing through the wall heel (). The study found that the and decrease with an increase in peak ground acceleration (PGA) up to approximately 0.55 g because they are impacted significantly by the translational and rotational displacement of the cantilever wall. In addition, the magnitude of is smaller than that of . Based on the parametric investigation and regression analysis, an equation for and is proposed and was verified by comparing it with the results of the finite-element study and existing numerical work. The proposed equation provides improved prediction of the active earth thrust of a cantilever wall at an early design stage.
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Data Availability Statement
The FE analysis results and earth pressure calculation details are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 150 • Issue 12 • December 2024
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© 2024 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Received: May 3, 2023
Accepted: Jun 24, 2024
Published online: Sep 25, 2024
Published in print: Dec 1, 2024
Discussion open until: Feb 25, 2025
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