Centrifuge Model Test of GRS Wall under Pseudostatic Seismic Load
Centrifuge Model Test of GRS Wall under Pseudostatic Seismic Load
The seismic stability of geosynthetic-reinforced soil (GRS) walls is conventionally evaluated by estimating the dynamic active thrust exerted on the wall under a specified seismic acceleration. However, this approach does not capture wall deformations, which are a critical serviceability criterion for GRS walls. This study investigates the pseudostatic seismic response of GRS walls through centrifuge model testing. Wall-facing deformations and reinforcement strains were quantified using digital image analysis (DIA), while displacement contours within the backfill were derived from particle image velocimetry (PIV) analysis. The pseudostatic seismic loading was applied by rotating the GRS wall model on a tilt-table simulator at 40 g in a large beam centrifuge facility available at IIT Bombay. Results show that wall-facing displacements increase with increasing seismic load intensity. Under static conditions, the maximum wall deformation was approximately 2.4%, which increased sharply beyond an acceleration of 0.1g, exceeding the allowable wall movement of 4% at an acceleration of 0.16g. A similar amplification of reinforcement strains was observed at higher seismic intensities. The PIV analysis revealed a bilinear active failure wedge inclined at approximately 26°, which is significantly lower than the inclination angle predicted by the Mononobe-Okabe (MO) limit-equilibrium method.
B. V. S. Viswanadham; S. P. Mukherjee
11th International Conference on Physical Modelling in Geotechnics (ICPMG2026)
Session 3: Resilient geotechnical infrastructure
https://doi.org/10.53243/ICPMG2026-428