Analysis of influence factors on the seismic earth pressure acting on gravity walls

중력식 옹벽에 작용하는 배면 동적 토력의 영향 인자 분석

The Mononobe-Okabe method is generally used to evaluate the dynamic earth force for the seismic design of retaining walls. However, the Mononobe-Okabe method does not consider the effects of the dynamic interactions between the backfill soil and the wall. In fact, a phase difference exists between the inertia force and the seismic earth pressure. In this study, shaking table tests were peformed on gravity walls retaining dry backfill sand to analyze the influence of several parameters (the unit weight of the wall, the input acceleration and base friction) on the development of the seismic earth pressure. The experiments revealed that the magnitude of the inertia force mobilized during seismic loading affected the seismic earth pressure. The difference in the phase angles between the inertia force and the seismic earth pressure was retained at 180 degrees before the wall failed but its magnitude changed significantly as the wall began to fail.