Parametric study of cantilever walls subjected to seismic loading.

The design of flexible earth retaining structures under seismic loading is a challenging geotechnical problem, the dynamic soil-structure interaction being of paramount importance for this kind of structures. Pseudo-static approaches are often adopted but do not allow a realistic assessment of the performance of the structure subjected to the seismic motions. The present paper illustrates a numerical parametric study aimed at estimating the influence of the dynamic soil-structure interaction in the design. A series of flexible earth retaining walls have been preliminary designed according to the requirements of Eurocode 7 and Eurocode 8—Part 5; their dynamic behaviour has been then evaluated by means of dynamic numerical simulations in terms of bending moments, accelerations and stress state. The results obtained from dynamic analyses have then been compared with those determined using the pseudo-static approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]