HHT-Based Seismic Damage Analysis of a Subgrade Slope Reinforced by a Gravity Retaining Wall

On the basis of the Hilbert-Huang transform and marginal spectrum theory, a large-scale shaking table test of a subgrade slope reinforced by a gravity retaining wall was carried out, and through the test results, the energy identification method of the slope dynamic failure mode was studied. Under seismic motion, gravity retaining walls are prone to displacement of rotation and slip, where the subgrade slope forms a failure plane from the wall toe to the trailing edge of the slope. The damage in the soil behind the wall occurs after the damage to the soil near the failure plane. In the proposed approach, the dynamic response characteristics of the subgrade slope are represented through the marginal spectrum characteristic amplitude. The results of the proposed approach were compared to those of a shaking table test and good agreement was found between the two methods. This method is useful for identifying the damage of subgrade slopes reinforced by gravity retaining walls. Furthermore, the proposed approach can reveal the damage progression, and provide a novel approach for studying the dynamic coupling response characteristics of a reinforced slope.