ABSTRACT
This paper describes the main findings of an EU funded research programme focusing on the seismic behaviour of gravity retaining walls. The programme is combining non-linear analysis with the results of 1/4. scale shaking table model tests. The aim of the research is to evaluate current design methods that compute the sliding displacement of the wall away from the retained soil.
The retaining wall models were constructed in a large geotechnical shear stack, which was specially designed to mimic field boundary conditions, and were subjected to horizontal shaking on the EPSRC shaking table at Bristol. The models were treated as two-dimensional, were built on a rigid, rough base, and retained a lm depth of dry sand.
The failure mechanism of the walls was identified and comparisons with numerical analyses show that it is possible to predict actual wall displacements for a given earthquake.
