Comparison between shaking table test results and numerical predictions of seismic performance of a soil-wall system

The seismic performance of gravity retaining walls is usually assessed through simplified displacement-based models derived from the original Newmark’s sliding block approach. These models generally neglect the effect of the change in the system geometry as displacements develop and the kinematic compatibility between the displacement of the wall and of the soil wedge involved in the plastic mechanism. Both these aspects require further understandings from a theoretical and experimental point of view. In this vein, with reference to gravity retaining walls characterized by a prevalent translational failure mechanism, the paper illustrates the comparison between shaking table test results and the numerical predictions obtained using a recently proposed model. Test results are presented and examined to check the reliability of the model predictions in terms of yield acceleration and displacements kinematic compatibility.