Response and Modeling of Cantilever Retaining Walls Subjected to Seismic Motions

Abstract

A series of nonlinear, explicit finite difference analyses were performed to determine the dynamic response of a cantilever retaining wall subjected to earthquake motions. This article outlines the calibration and validation of the numerical model used in the analyses and comparisons are presented between the results from the finite difference analyses and results from simplified techniques for computing dynamic earth pressures and permanent wall displacement (i.e., Mononobe-Okabe and Newmark sliding block methods). It was found that at very low levels of acceleration, the induced pressures were in general agreement with those predicted by the MononobeOkabe method. However, as the accelerations increased to those expected in regions of moderate seismicity, the induced pressures are larger than those predicted by the Mononobe-Okabe method. This deviation is attributed to the flexibility of the retaining wall system and to the observation that the driving soil wedge does not respond monolithically, but rather responds as several wedges. Ad- *

Experimental Investigation of Dynamic Behaviour of Cantilever Retaining Walls

“…On the other hand, at yielding acceleration of the system, earth pressure on the stem is minimum. This is in agreement with the findings of other recent experimental and numerical studies [16,17]. Comparing Configurations 1 and 3, it can be clearly identified that rotational modes induce lower earth pressure on the wall, but different distribution leading to a higher point of application of the thrust.…”

Investigation of seismic response of cantilever retaining walls: Limit analysis vs shaking table testing

“…Note that the critical acceleration always increases as the wall toe penetrates the underlying soil layer, thus resulting to an increase in sliding resistance. This has also been observed in numerical simulations [52]. On the other hand, Configuration No3 starts to rotate at initiation of yielding, without any evidence of sliding discontinuities on the recorded accelerations.…”

Seismic response of retaining walls with cohesive backfill: Centrifuge model studies

“…Likewise, kinematic solutions [9] and methods based on the theory of elasticity have been developed [10][11][12][13][14], but their applicability is limited since a small wall deflection can induce a failure state in the soil. Finite elements or finite differences models have been used extensively to analyze retaining structures [15][16][17][18][19][20]. While these methods have been validated against real case histories and experimental data, their predictive capabilities is still debatable.…”