Seismic active earth pressure on walls with bilinear backface using pseudo-dynamic approach

Abstract

This paper presents a study on the seismic active earth pressure behind a rigid cantilever retaining wall with bilinear backface using pseudo-dynamic approach. The wall has sudden change in inclination along its depth and a planar failure surface has been considered behind the retaining wall. The effects of a wide range of parameters like soil friction angle, wall inclination, wall friction angle, amplification of vibration, variation of shear modulus, and horizontal and vertical seismic accelerations on the active earth pressure have been explored in the present study. Unlike the Mononobe-Okabe method, which incorporates pseudo-static analysis, the present analysis predicts a nonlinear variation of active earth pressure along the wall. The results have been compared with the existing values in the literature.