External stability of waterfront reinforced soil structures under seismic conditions using a pseudo-static approach

This paper presents an analysis of the external stability of a waterfront reinforced soil retaining structure. Such structures, in addition to being subjected to normal hydrostatic pressures, are also subjected to earthquake, which gives rise to additional seismic inertia forces and hydrodynamic pressure. Simple pseudo-static approaches are adopted to calculate the seismic inertia forces on the waterfront retaining structure, and a conventional approach is used to estimate the hydrodynamic pressure. The failure wedge is considered to be confined by a planar rupture surface. The results are presented for direct sliding and overturning failure modes of the retaining structure (including results for sloped and vertical walls). By considering all combinations of forces, generalised expressions are developed for the length of geosynthetic reinforcement needed to counter these two modes of failure. The expressions are fairly simple, and can be used directly by practising engineers for the design of waterfront r...

[1]  Deepankar Choudhury,et al.  Seismic Passive Earth Pressures in Soils , 2005 .

[2]  Dov Leshchinsky,et al.  Post-earthquake investigation on several geosynthetic-reinforced soil retaining walls and slopes during the Ji-Ji earthquake of Taiwan , 2001 .

[3]  Dennes T. Bergado,et al.  Tsunami reconstruction with geosynthetic containment systems , 2007 .

[4]  Robert M. Ebeling,et al.  The Seismic Design of Waterfront Retaining Structures , 1992 .

[5]  C. S. Vieira.  Discussion and Response: Seismic stability of reinforced-soil wall by pseudo-dynamic method , 2006 .

[6]  Kianoosh Hatami,et al.  Effect of structural design on fundamental frequency of reinforced-soil retaining walls , 2000 .

[7]  Syed Mohd Ahmad,et al.  Design of waterfront retaining wall for the passive case under earthquake and tsunami , 2007 .

[8]  A. Murali Krishna,et al.  Seismic response of reinforced soil retaining wall models: Influence of backfill relative density , 2008 .

[9]  Ching-Chuan Huang,et al.  Seismic stability of reinforced slopes: failure mechanisms and displacements , 2008 .

[10]  Richard J. Bathurst,et al.  Influence of reinforcement parameters on the seismic response of reduced-scale reinforced soil retaining walls , 2007 .

[11]  Kianoosh Hatami,et al.  Seismic Response Analysis of a Geosynthetic-Reinforced Soil Retaining Wall , 1998 .

[12]  Deepankar Choudhury,et al.  External stability of reinforced soil walls under seismic conditions , 2007 .

[13]  Richard J. Bathurst,et al.  Pseudo-Static Seismic Analysis Of Geosynthetic-Reinforced Segmental Retaining Walls , 1995 .

[14]  Robert M. Koerner,et al.  Designing with Geosynthetics , 1986 .

[15]  H. Westergaard.  Water Pressures on Dams During Earthquakes , 1933 .

[16]  Syed Mohd Ahmad,et al.  Pseudo-dynamic approach of seismic design for waterfront reinforced soil-wall , 2008 .

[17]  A. Fakher,et al.  Development of Horizontal Slice Method for seismic stability analysis of reinforced slopes and walls , 2006 .

[18]  Deepankar Choudhury,et al.  New Approach for Estimation of Static and Seismic Active Earth Pressure , 2006 .

[19]  E. Saibaba Reddy,et al.  Pseudo-static seismic analysis of reinforced soil wall—Effect of oblique displacement , 2008 .

[20]  Dov Leshchinsky,et al.  SEISMIC DESIGN AND PERFORMANCE OF GEOSYNTHETIC-REINFORCED SOIL STRUCTURES , 1997 .

[21]  Deepankar Choudhury,et al.  Seismic passive resistance in soils for negative wall friction , 2002 .

[22]  Steven L. Kramer,et al.  Seismic performance evaluation of reinforced slopes , 2004 .

[23]  Deepankar Choudhury,et al.  Seismic stability of reinforced soil-wall by pseudo-dynamic method , 2006 .

[24]  S. Kramer.  Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering , 1996 .

[25]  Syed Mohd Ahmad,et al.  Stability of waterfront retaining wall subjected to pseudo-static earthquake forces , 2007 .

[26]  Dov Leshchinsky,et al.  Geosynthetic Reinforced Multitiered Walls , 2004 .

[27]  D. T. Bergado,et al.  Geosynthetics reinforcement application for tsunami reconstruction: Evaluation of interface parameters with silty sand and weathered clay , 2007 .

[28]  Kenichi Matsushima,et al.  Remedial treatment of soil structures using geosynthetic-reinforcing technology , 2007 .

[29]  A. Fakher,et al.  Horizontal slice method of analysis , 2001 .

[30]  Dov Leshchinsky,et al.  Effects of vertical acceleration on seismic design of geosynthetic-reinforced soil structures , 1998 .