Liquefaction numerical analysis of cantilevered retaining walls with saturated backfill containing fines content

Seismic behavior analyses of cantilever retaining walls are affected by saturated backfills. There are records of retaining walls that include fines content in the backfill with up to 95 kPa cohesiveness. The behavior of such backfills is different than clean cohesionless backfills and affects the retaining wall seismic response and liquefaction potential. Due to lack of such well-instrumented sites for analyses of these types of walls during seismic event, this study aims at analyses of such walls using validated numerical analyses. A 3 m- and 9 m-high cantilever retaining wall with saturated backfill was simulated to investigate the seismic response of the wall under 0.25-0.65 g peak ground acceleration (PGA). The probability of liquefaction and its effects were assessed. To validate the numerical procedure, a cantilever retaining wall modeled in a centrifuge test by others was simulated numerically in a previous research by authors and referred briefly herein. The validated numerical model was used to investigate the effect of dirty backfills with 10 kPa and 30 kPa cohesions on lateral displacement, foundation settlement, total seismic active pressure and its point of action, porewater pressure ratio, backfill deformation pattern, potential failure surfaces (PFS), and wall failure mode.