Seismic displacements of retaining walls: shaking table test results vs numerical predictions

摘要

The seismic performance of retaining walls is usually evaluated through simplified displacement-based approaches which neglect the change in the soil-wall system geometry as displacements develop. In this vein, the paper describes the results of several shaking table tests carried out on a reduced-scale model of a retaining wall placed inside a flexible soil container and subjected to harmonic input motions. In the paper the permanent displacements of the wall and of the retained soil were presented and compared with numerical predictions obtained using a modified Newmark-type model, which encompasses the kinematic compatibility between the wall and the soil.