Full-scale shaking table tests and finite element analysis of reinforced soil retaining walls

Modular Block Geosynthetic-Reinforced Soil Retaining Walls (MB-GRS) have gained great popularity in North America and other parts of the world as a result of their aesthetics and economy. Laboratory model tests are very useful in studying the dynamic behavior of these reinforced soil walls under controlled conditions. However, most shaking table tests are conducted using reduced scale models in a 1 g field that are possibly subject to scale effects due to the influence of stress levels and the lack of reasonable scaling techniques for soil-structure interaction. In the current study, three benchmark full-scale shaking table tests were conducted using the large scale shaking table facility at the National Research Institute of Agricultural Engineering (NRIAE) in Tsukuba, Japan. The walls were 2.8 m high with a soil foundation of 20 cm, making them the tallest modular block walls ever tested for earthquake loading.; Numerical simulation of MB-GRS is also becoming a useful tool for the better understanding and more efficient design of such complicated systems. The behavior of the three test walls was analyzed using a validated finite element procedure and compared to the test results. A finite element program was used to simulate the dynamic behavior of the full-scale walls and advanced models were used to simulate the geogrid and soil behavior for the numerical analyses. The backfill and foundation soil were modeled using a generalized plasticity model that was able to describe the pressure dependency and cyclic hardening behavior of the sand used in the study. A one-dimensional bounding surface plasticity model for geosynthetics was modified, with a power hardening function, to capture the behavior of the geogrid used in the study. The model was able to simulate the monotonic hardening behavior and the cyclic behavior of geosynthetic reinforcement at different load amplitudes.; The comparison of the numerical and experimental results showed that the finite element procedure was able to simulate the dynamic behavior of the wall. The results will allow further validation of numerical procedures.