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Performance of flexible retaining walls supporting dry cohesionless soils under cyclic loads
Author(s) -
Siddharthan Raj,
Maragakis Emmanuel M.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
international journal for numerical and analytical methods in geomechanics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.419
H-Index - 91
eISSN - 1096-9853
pISSN - 0363-9061
DOI - 10.1002/nag.1610130307
Subject(s) - centrifuge , geotechnical engineering , deflection (physics) , retaining wall , bending moment , structural engineering , finite element method , slip (aerodynamics) , engineering , soil water , nonlinear system , geology , soil science , nuclear physics , physics , optics , quantum mechanics , aerospace engineering
A finite element model is proposed for studying the seismic response of a flexible retaining wall/soil system. The model accounts for nonlinear hysteretic soil behaviour, and also for the increase in lateral stresses and settlement related to grain slip caused by cyclic loads. The response computed by the proposed method was compared with responses recorded at the Cambridge centrifuge facility, and found to be in reasonable agreement. The model was then used to identify the importance of factors such as flexibility of the wall and relative density of the backfill. The study reveals that the maximum bending moments given by current design procedures are nonconservative for stiffer walls. Deflections of flexible walls are of major concern. Flexible walls supporting a sand of medium density yield the greatest deflection.