EFFECT OF LIQUEFIABLE BACKFILL SOIL ON DYNAMIC PERFORMANCE OF ANCHORED DIAPHRAGM WALLS – A NUMERICAL STUDY

Past strong earthquakes like Niigata (1964), Kushiro-Oki (1993) and Kobe (1995) have shown that quay walls are so vulnerable during earthquakes. The main severe damages are due to existence of loose liquefiable soil layer behind the wall. In this paper, a numerical model is firstly developed and calibrated, and then numerical simulations are carried out using finite difference method and a non-linear UBCSAND model to evaluate the effect of liquefiable backfill soil on dynamic response of anchored quay wall system. The obtained results show the presence of liquefiable soil layer at vicinity of main wall head increases horizontal and vertical displacements of main wall head. Also, the existence of liquefiable soil layer around the main wall root increases the horizontal displacement of main wall root and embedment failure mode can occur

Keywords:

Anchored diaphragm wall , liquefaction , non-linearity , dynamic analysis , deformation mechanism