RELIABILITY ANALYSIS OF REINFORCED EARTH RETAINING STRUCTURES SUBJECTED TO EARTHQUAKE LOADING

Abstract

In this paper earth retaining walls reinforced with geotextiles are investigated. The failure model considered is a special internal one, where the failure plain cuts through the geotextile layers. Horizontal earthquake forces are introduced to allow a seismic resistant design. Parametric studies indicate that, for the failure model considered, the toe of the reinforced wall is its most sensitive part. Based on the probabilistic safety concept a reliability analysis is carried out and design factors are derived, which permit the assessment of the safety of the structure in an easy and convenient way. More detailed earthquake related studies are carried out in order to compare the design situation between Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto. It is found that the construction of reinforced earth retaining structures appears to be feasible in Osaka and Kyoto, whereas in Tokyo, because of its prominent earthquake record, especially the toe of the wall has to be designed with great caution in order to ensure the probability of failure to remain acceptably small.