Dynamic response law about gravity retaining wall to seismic characteristics and earth fill properties

Abstract

In order to find the dynamic response laws of retaining walls affected by certain earthquake loads, the influence of the seismic wave characteristics and sub-grade fill parameters (including the foundation surface slope) were focused on, and a series of tests were performed. The results show that the maximum stress of the retaining wall decreases as internal friction angle, foundation slope, filled soil cohesion and the biggest dynamic elastic modulus increase, while it increases with the seismic frequency and seismic input peak dropping. The addition value of dynamics earth pressure increases when seismic frequency and seismic input peak are reduced, while it decreases when the filled soil cohesion and internal friction angle rise. Meanwhile, dynamic elastic modulus and foundation slope have no obvious influences on addition value of dynamics earth pressure. The slope will be instable if the seismic input peak exceeds 0.5g and be disruptive if seismic frequency is larger than 2.5 Hz. The mid-lower parts of retaining walls are in most heavy and obvious response to these factors, which reveals the mechanism of “belly burst” in retaining wall that appears commonly in practical projects.