Evaluation of force components acting on gravity type quay walls during earthquakes

Abstract

In the analysis of the seismic stability of gravity type quay walls, the magnitudes of force components acting on quay walls during earthquakes and the phase relationships among these force components must be properly evaluated. In general, the force components include inertia force of the wall, lateral earth force, and water force. The magnitude and the phase relationship of each force component vary with time, and are largely affected by the magnitude of excess pore pressure developed in the backfill soil of the quay wall. The dynamic thrust develops at the contact surface between the backfill soil and the wall as a result of the interaction among these force components. In this study, a simple model is proposed to evaluate the magnitude and the phase variation of the dynamic thrust on the back of the wall. The proposed model computes the dynamic thrust by using the force components calculated from existing equations. We verified the proposed model by comparing its results with those obtained from a series of shaking table tests. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.