Seismic response of geosynthetic reinforced soil structures

Abstract eng:
Geosynthetics have been widely used over the last decades in various fields of engineering practice, such as geotechnical, transportation, hydraulic, and geoenvironmental, mainly due to the numerous functions that they can be efficiently applied which are reinforcement, drainage, filtration, containment, and separation. The development of these applications is still ongoing, not only on the evaluation of the performance, but also on the application field of these engineering materials. Nevertheless, recent earthquakes, such as the 1999 Kocaeli and the 1999 Chi-Chi earthquakes, have demonstrated the seismic vulnerability of mechanically stabilized earth walls and reinforced slopes. Nevertheless, the construction of geosynthetic reinforced structures experiences a significant growth the past decades. Current seismic design procedures involve an extended version of static design methods. Hence, the seismic design of these structures does not account for several important factors, like the compound failure and the global stability which were observed in damaged structures after post earthquake investigation. Aim of the current study is to assess the dynamic response of reinforced soil structures and the potential of the geosynthetics to prevent the development of slope instability taking advantage of their reinforcing effect. The aforementioned problem is examined both analytically and numerically. For this purpose, initially the pseudostatic method (and specifically the limit equilibrium method) which is most often used in engineering practice is employed and a detailed parametric study is performed. Subsequently, the dynamic analyses were performed utilizing the finite element method and results were verified with experimental results. These analyses contribute not only to the evaluation of the dynamic response of soil reinforced structures, but also to the identification of the developed failure modes. The results of the present investigation provide a valuable insight into the seismic behavior of geosynthetic reinforced slopes.

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