Dynamic Analysis of Cantilever Retaining Wall

Retaining walls are relatively stiff walls used for supporting soil laterally. Study of seismic behavior of retaining wall is important for safe design and to know the behaviour of how the response of soil influences the motion of the structure. This paper presents static and dynamic analysis of cantilever retaining wall by 3D finite element analysis using ANSYS software. Aim of this study is to investigate seismic behaviour of wall. For that purpose, soil modeling is done by direct method of analysis carried out by bonding of wall and soil together. Study contains three-parts, modal analysis is carried out after static analysis, mode shapes and natural frequencies of the wall is calculated and then nonlinear time history analysis is done by using three different earthquake ground motions. The influences of parameter are discussed such as dynamic characteristics of wall and soil, shear stresses, equivalent stresses. From this analysis it is observed that maximum displacement occurs at top of the wall and wall does not fail under given loading condition. The significant effect on seismic behaviour of retaining wall has been found in the soil. Also, the Equivalent (Von Mises) stress distribution for retaining wall supporting clayey soil, the lowest Von Mises stress values are detected near the ground level and increases at bottommost of retaining wall and higher stress detected amongst the base slab and the stem of the retaining wall in the soil cover zone.