Seismic behavior of geosynthetic-reinforced retaining walls backfilled with cohesive soil

Abstract

This study investigates the seismic performance of geosynthetic-reinforced modular block retaining walls backfilled with cohesive, fine grained clay-sand soil mixture. Shaking table tests were performed for three ½ scaled (wall height 190 cm) and ¼ scaled model walls to investigate the effects of backfill type, the influence of reinforcement length and reinforcement stiffness effects. The El Centro and Kobe earthquake records of varying amplitudes were used as base acceleration. Displacement of the front wall, accelerations at different locations, strains on the reinforcements, and the visual observations of the facing and the backfill surface were used to evaluate the seismic performance of model walls. The model walls were subjected to rigorous shaking and the walls did not exhibit any stability problems or signs of impending failure. The maximum deformations observed on the models with cohesive backfill was less than half of the deformation of the sand model. The load transfers between the geogrid and cohesive soil was comparable to that of sand and hence the needed reinforcement length was similar as well. As a result; the model walls with cohesive backfills performed within acceptable limits under seismic loading conditions when compared with granular backfilled counterparts.