A series of physical model tests was conducted for the active case of a rigid retaining wall subjected to horizontal translation. The behaviour of a granular retained soil was investigated experimentally using a set of precise miniature pressure cells and particle image velocimetry. The good agreement between the experimental results and the arch-action-based theories for lateral active earth pressure could confirm the arching effect behind the retaining walls in the active translation mode. The distribution of shear strain confirms that, for active wall movement, the failure zone is distinguished from the stationary zone by a shear band behind the wall.
Centrifuge model tests were carried out to investigate the dynamic behaviour of a pile-supported wharf in front of backfilled gravity type caissons, focusing on the failure mechanism of the piles, the effects of liquefaction in the backfill and underlying sand layer on the permanent deformation of the wharf during earthquakes, and the dynamic interaction between the piled deck and caisson through the approach bridge. The targeted piled structure is the pile-supported wharf damaged in the 1995 Hyogo-ken Nambu Earthquake at Takahama, Kobe. Liquefaction of the foundation soil and the backfill behind the caisson during an earthquake-like shaking causes large seaward lateral movement of the rubble mound. As a result, a large horizontal displacement gap was formed between the rubble mound and the bearing stratum. This displacement gap caused a very large bending moment in the pile, at the pile top and in the bearing stratum just below the sand layer. These locations where large bending moments were observed agreed with the locations where large pile deformations were observed at the Kobe site. Centrifuge model tests reasonably predicted the failure mode of the piled wharf observed in the Kobe Earthquake. Varying the thickness of the sand layer under the rubble mound caused a change of the deformation mode of both ground and structures. The test without the sand layer showed no displacement gap between the rubble mound and the bearing stratum, resulting in small permanent displacement of the wharf, while a thicker liquefiable sand layer did not necessarily cause a larger deformation of soil and the structures.
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