Seismic displacement of a geosynthetic-reinforced wall in the 1995 Hyogo-ken nambu earthquake

Abstract

Seismic displacement of a geosynthetic-reinforced wall with full-height rigid panel facing (Tanata wall) in the 1995 Hyogo-ken Nambu earthquake is calculated using a pseudo-static method based on a 'multi-wedge' failure mechanism. The calculated value of horizontal displacement of the wall is comparable to the measured one. Based on an investigation into the effect of vertical ground acceleration to the seismic displacement of the wall using vertical and horizontal input ground accelerations in recorded seismograms, it is found that the contribution of vertical ground acceleration to the seismic displacement of the Tanata wall is small, because the peak horizontal and vertical ground accelerations are out of phase. Therefore, the use of peak vertical-to-horizontal ground acceleration ratio obtained in an earthquake event for pseudo-static multi-wedge analysis may overestimate the seismic displacement of a geosynthetic-reinforced wall to some extent. The effect of the embedment of the facing on the seismic displacement of the Tanata is also investigated. It is found that the effect of facing embedment to the seismic stability and/or displacement in the case of the Tanata wall is insignificant.