Seismic performance of single-propped retaining walls

This thesis analyzed the dynamic performance of single-propped retaining walls in dry sand under different seismic excitations using the finite difference software FLAC v7.0 (Itasca). The structure comprises two reinforced concrete diaphragm walls connected by a row of cross-lot struts that is used to support a 9.5m deep, 18m wide excavation in dry sand. After simulating the excavation as a staged construction, a suite of thirty-two (32) different seismic inputs were applied at the base of the model. The non-linear, inelastic soil behavior was represented by the advanced PB constitutive model (generalized effective stress soil model) developed by Papadimitriou et al. (2002). In order to avoid spurious reflections of shear waves on the vertical boundaries of the finite difference model, the analyses used periodic boundary conditions. The performance of the structure was investigated by considering the wall deflections, bending moments, earth pressures and surface settlements for each of the applied ground motions. Based on the horizontal deflection of the walls, three distinct categories of performance were observed and characterized. Results of the parametric study were correlated with the characteristics of the ground motions from which wall deflections and bending moments showed clear correlations with peak ground acceleration and Arias intensity.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2016

Author dc:creator

• Zervos, Spyridon, M. Eng Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Andrew J. Whittle.

• Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/104250

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/104250