Seismic responses of reinforced soil retaining walls and slopes with a focus on the reinforcement loads
Geosynthetic-reinforced soil retaining walls and slopes have extensive applications in civil engineering and are well-known for their excellent seismic performance. However, how to reasonably estimate the reinforcement loads under seismic loading is still a question facing geotechnical engineers. In this talk, recent results from our experimental, numerical and analytical studies on this subject are introduced. We targeted vertical reinforced soil walls, tiered reinforced soil walls, and reinforced soil slopes, and took into account the complex characteristics of near-field seismic loadings. Our studies showed that both the structural and geotechnical aspects of a reinforced soil structure contributed to the development of seismic reinforcement loads. Wave propagation, structural dynamics, and accumulative plastic deformation of soil are three key mechanisms underneath the reinforcement load development. We proposed an earthquake motion parameter that has the potential to reasonably estimate the seismic reinforcement loads.
