Performance and Analysis of Arifiye Overpass Reinforced Earth Walls During the 1999 Kocaeli (Turkey) Earthquake - Reinforced Soil Engineering: Advances in Research and Practice - page 450

walls. The walls, constructed of steel strips and compacted select
backfill, performed well despite being shaken with ground accelerations
. 0.3 g in an M7.4 event and being subjected to fault-related ground

displacements of 350 cm that occurred almost adjacent to the wall. An
unreinforced earthen embankment about 250m from the wall suffered
heavy damage, settling more than 1m.
2. Following the earthquake, the maximum permanent lateral movement
of the RE facing panels was about 10 cm, and this occurred at about one
third the wall height above the base. The settlement along the centerline
of the double-wall system was estimated at 25-30 cm, primarily due to
the lateral building of the system.
3. The earthquake-induced RE wall deformation pattern and displacement
magnitudes were successfully predicted using the computer code
FLAC assuming two-dimensional, plane strain conditions. The
predicted deformation pattern was one of significant settlement along
the double-wall centerline, and lateral bulging with peak displacements
occurring at about one third the wall height above the base. This
predicted deformation was consistent with the observations. In terms of
the displacement magnitudes, a maximum lateral wall displacement of
16 cm was predicted, compared to an observed value of 10 cm. The
predicted settlement along the centerline of the double-wall system was
27 cm, consistent with the observed value of 25-30 cm. The static
analysis was conducted using a Mohr-Coulomb soil model and
hyperbolic soil stiffness criteria, and the dynamic analysis assumed an
elastoplastic model that assumed linear behavior up to the yield stress,
and plastic behavior beyond this value.
4. Pre-earthquake stress conditions determined during a static analysis
that simulated wall construction were important in terms of correctly
estimating the final earthquake-induced stresses and forces in the RE
system.
5. Permanent vertical and lateral displacements probably developed
during the strong part of shaking (first 10 sec), as indicated by predicted
displacement

time histories calculated for different locations and

elevations along the walls.
6. The numerical analysis indicate that the earthquake shaking
significantly increased the forces in the steel reinforcement strips,
especially in the lower third of the walls. Maximum reinforcement
forces reached values about two to three times those existed at the end
of construction at the upper and lower elevations, respectively. Even
though these numbers indicate that the some of the steel strips reached
their yield strength and some slip probably took place, the system
integrity was maintained by a large margin.