Numerical Modeling of the Dynamic Behavior of Rigid Retaining Walls Subjected to Real Near-Fault Ground Motions and Estimation of Seismic Lateral Earth Pressures

Abstract:

In this study, a series of nonlinear 2D finite difference analyses were carried out to study the seismic behavior of non-yielding gravity-type earth retaining walls founded in rock site subjected to “Real Near-Fault ground motions”. Numerical analyses were performed by two dimensional explicit FLAC^2D finite difference code. Various sets of real data (forty accelerograms) records were applied at the bedrock level to assess model’s dynamic response for different earthquake scenarios. All ground motions have a baseline correction and all output accelerograms obtained from the dynamic analyses are filtered using a non-causal bandpass filter of order 4, between 0.1 and 25 Hz. In these calculations, the foundation non-deformability, the seismic amplification or attenuation and the non-linearity of the soil placed behind the retaining wall are considered. We highlighted an important correlation between the PGA (Pic Ground Acceleration) calculated in free field (accounting for the wave propagation) and the obtained pressure. Numerical results are compared to theoretical calculation methods available in the literature. Among them, Wood's method seems to be the most precise one, presenting small deviations with the numerical methods. Moreover, it is the safest method, in the sense that it predicts the highest pressure values, not only in the elastic cases but even in some situations when non-linearity appears. In addition, we found that the time corresponding to the maximum calculated values of lateral earth pressure acting on the wall matches with the time of the calculated (PGA_ff). So, the main takeaway of this observation is the zero effect of seismic duration on pressure evolution.

• Periodical: International Journal of Engineering Research in Africa (Volume 39)
• Pages: 60-75
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/JERA.39.60
• Online since: November 2018
• Authors: Zakaria Bouraoui*, Sadok Benmebarek, Fernando Lopez-Caballero
• Keywords: Constitutive Models, Non-Pulse-Like Ground Motions, Numerical Analyses, Pulse-Like, Real Near-Fault Ground Motions, Rigid Retaining Walls, Seismic Lateral Earth Pressures

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