Ambient vibration based modal identification of a flexible retaining wall

Abstract

Bridges and buildings are the commonly monitored structural typologies and hence, the dynamic behaviour of superstructures is extensively studied. Geotechnical aspects, instead, are less investigated; in particular, the dynamic and seismic behaviour of a flexible retaining wall is currently not fully understood. The Structural Health Monitoring system of the "Casa dello Studente" (Student House) at University of Molise has been designed and is currently under implementation in order to obtain a deeper knowledge about the dynamic behaviour of geotechnical structures and soil-structure interaction mechanisms. To fulfil this aim, a number of ambient vibration tests have been carried out and the results are used to refine the numerical model of the wall in operational conditions. In the present paper, the main test results are reported and the numerical model of the soil-structure system is described. Due to the low level of ambient vibrations, an elastic model has been implemented and a number of simulations have been carried out in order to investigate the dynamic behaviour of the soil-structure system and the mechanisms of interaction, also through the comparison with the experimental results.