Model tests on behaviour of gravity-type quay walls subjected to strong shaking

Abstract

Seismic stability of gravity-type quay walls and prevention of their large distortion are of major concern from a disaster prevention view point as well as in the sense of successful restoration after strong seismic events. There are, however, many existing walls which are of limited seismic resistance and would not be safe under increasing magnitude of design earthquakes. The present study conducted shaking model tests in both 1-g and 50-g centrifugal fields in order to demonstrate the efficiency of available mitigation technologies. Test results suggest that soil improvement in the loose foundation sand can reduce the quay wall damage to a certain extent when the intensity of shaking is around 0.30g. In contrast, under stronger shaking, the centrifugal tests manifested that those measures are not promising because of the increased effects of seismic inertia force.