Stability Analysis of Reinforced Soil Wall under Seismic Loads: A novel

Abstract

One of the major reasons for the popularity of geosynthetic reinforced earth retaining structures is their ability to perform better under seismic loading conditions. Pullout resistance is one of the most important factors that affect the stability of reinforced soil structures under seismic loading conditions. However, conventional methods do not consider the obliquity of the pullout force and consider only axial direction of the pull. In this paper, effect of oblique pullout on the seismic stability of a reinforced soil wall is presented where backfill is represented as a two-parameter Pasternak subgrade. The effect of various parameters on the pullout response is also studied under seismic loading conditions. The results are also compared with the conventional methods of analysis. The comparisons show that the present analysis gives a better estimation of the FOS against pullout as compared to the conventional methods of analysis thus brings out the importance of the present study.