Numerical Evaluation of Seismic Soil Pressures on Rigid Walls Fixed to the Bedrock |
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Authors: | Esteban Perez-Rivera |
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Affiliation: | Department of Civil Engineering and Surveying, University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez, Mayaguez, Puerto Rico |
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Abstract: | Seismic soil pressures developed on a 7 m rigid retaining wall fixed to the bedrock are investigated using a finite element model that engages nonlinear soil intended materials available in OpenSees. This allows incorporation of the inelastic behavior of the soil and wave propagation effects in the soil-wall system seismic response. The nonlinear response of the soil was validated using the well-stablished, frequency-domain, linear-equivalent approach. An incremental dynamic analysis was implemented to comprehensively examine the effect of soil nonlinearity and input motion on the induced seismic pressures and to evaluate current code equations/methodologies at different levels of earthquake intensity. The results show that soil nonlinearity and seismic wave amplification may play an important role in the response of the soil-wall system. Therefore, methodologies that rely only on peak ground acceleration may introduce large bias on the estimated seismic pressures in scenarios where high nonlinearity and site amplification are expected. |
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Keywords: | Seismic Pressures Rigid Walls Mononobe-Okabe Incremental Dynamic Analysis Spectrum Compatible Records Site Response |
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