Studying the effects of deformable panels on seismic displacement of gravity quay walls

Abstract This research is to investigate the effects of deformable panels on reducing the seaward displacement, settlement and tilting of caisson quay walls. In this regard, a series of shaking table 1-g tests are performed for a 1 25 scaled-down caisson quay wall with two different seabed interface conditions. Here, the wall is tested in two cases: with and without (no-mitigation case) applying the deformable panels. Being installed behind the walls, the panels applied in the tests have different mechanical properties. In the model test, the harmonic base motions are used with constant frequency and amplitude. In all tests, the foundation soil beneath the caisson wall is assumed as dense and non liquefiable. However, in order to reproduce a loose backfill situation in the model, the backfill soil is constructed with relative density of 25%. Furthermore, to support the experimental results, a series of finite difference effective-stress analyses are performed in the prototype scale. The mitigation results show that the deformable panels can significantly decrease the seaward movement, settlement and inclination of wall as well as the total pressure recorded behind the caisson wall. Here, these panels are called Displacement Reducer Panels (DRP) based on the obtained results.

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