A new limit equilibrium method for the pseudostatic design of embedded cantilevered retaining walls

• We describe a new limit equilibrium method for the dynamic design of cantilevered retaining walls.
• We focus on both the geotechnical and the structural design of the wall.
• A parametric study is carried out on the effects of the geometry of the wall and of the strength of the soil.
• Pseudostatic predictions are in very good agreement with results from truly dynamic 2-D FDM analyses.

This paper describes a new pseudostatic limit equilibrium method for the design of cantilevered retaining walls under seismic actions. The method has been applied in a parametric study of the effects of the geometry of the wall, considering different excavated and embedded depths, of the strength of the soil, and of the contact between the soil and the wall. The pseudostatic predictions are in very good agreement, both in terms of horizontal contact stress and bending moment distributions, with the results of truly dynamic 2-D finite difference analyses and published experimental data. It is found that for increasing strengths of the soil–wall system both the critical acceleration and the maximum bending moment on the wall increase. In other words, a stronger soil–wall system will experience smaller displacements during the earthquake, but this is paid for by increasing internal forces in the wall.