Parametric Selection for the Seismic Numerical Simulation of Geosynthetic Reinforced Slope

Abstract

Reinforced soil structures encompass the advantage of easy and quick construction. In addition, they are highly resistant to stress and earthquakes. Conventional gravity retaining structures are thus being gradually replaced by geosynthetic reinforced soil structures. Bearing in mind that high frequency of earthquakes in Taiwan area, earthquake resistance should be taken into account in the design of reinforced soil structures to consider the effects of additional stress from earthquakes. This paper utilizes PLAXIS finite element program to simulate the seismic behavior of geosynthetic reinforced slope during the earthquake in FoGuang University. Since the repeated seismic reflections and magnified seismic response can occur within the model boundary when a seismic input is directly applied to the base location, the reflection of seismic input may affect the dynamic analysis simulation. Appropriate boundary condition and damping ratio are emphasized in this paper to facilitate further analyses to resolve the effects of seismic response. Although greater distance for model margins may also be employed without the boundary conditions to reduce the seismic reflections, more calculation for processing additional elements and storage space requirements may be demanded. Therefore, dynamic boundary condition provided in Plaxis can be applied to simplify the calculation. Furthermore, it is necessary to properly consider the soil damping ratio for a seismic simulation analysis to enhance accuracy of the predicted response.