Seismic performance of U-shaped spillway retaining wall from shake table tests

Abstract

A series of large-scale shake table tests were performed to evaluate the seismic behavior of a U-shaped spillway retaining wall. Three test model configurations were employed using different backfill conditions in terms of in-place soil density. Two earthquake records were employed as input motion and scaled in terms of time duration and acceleration amplitude to assess various aspects of seismic response. The test results showed that dynamic wall deflection and wall bending moment generally increased with Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA) amplitude. At peak wall deflection, the seismic earth pressure increment coefficient (ΔKAE) was back-calculated from the measured bending moment along each wall. In addition, the location of ΔKAE along the wall height and the resulting base moment were evaluated and discussed. The results suggested that seismic demands were generally lower up to a PGA of about 0.8 g, compared to the classic Seed and Whitman recommendation for seismic lateral earth pressure and seismic bending moment of retaining walls. Beyond PGA of 0.8 g, test results were in general agreement with the Seed and Whitman solution. Finally, two-dimensional finite element analyses were performed, and the computational results showed overall reasonable agreement with the experimental data.