Analyzing dynamic behavior of geosynthetic-reinforced soil retaining walls

An advanced generalized plasticity soil model and bounding surface geosynthetic model, in conjunction with a dynamic finite element procedure, are used to analyze the behavior of geosynthetic-reinforced soil retaining walls. The construction behavior of a full-scale wall is first analyzed followed by a series of five shaking table tests conducted in a centrifuge. The parameters for the sandy backfill soils are calibrated through the results of monotonic and cyclic triaxial tests. The wall facing deformations, strains in the geogrid reinforcement layers, lateral earth pressures acting at the facing blocks, and vertical stresses at the foundation are presented. In the centrifugal shaking table tests, the response of the walls subject to 20 cycles of sinusoidal wave having a frequency of 2 Hz and of acceleration amplitude of 0.2g are compared with the results of analysis. The acceleration in the backfill, strain in the geogrid layers, and facing deformation are computed and compared to the test results. The results of analysis for both static and dynamic tests compared reasonably well with the experimental results. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9399(2004)130:8(911) CE Database subject headings: Retaining walls; Soil structures; Geosynthetics; Plasticity; Finite elements.