Interpretation of the experimentally measured dynamic response of an embedded retaining wall by finite element models

Experimental measurements of the ambient vibration response of an embedded retaining wall were used to enhance the understanding of the dynamic behavior of this typology of geotechnical systems. The experimental estimates of the dynamic properties of the soil-wall system made possible the refinement of a numerical model, originally set according to standard geotechnical investigations, by means of sensitivity analyses with respect to a few model parameters. As a result, a representative model of the dynamic behavior of the soil-wall system in operational conditions was obtained. It yielded a significant insight into the soil-structure interaction mechanisms. Under low acceleration field, a superposition principle was validated, resulting in a potential a priori estimation of the response of the overall system based on the knowledge of the decoupled responses of different domains bounded by the excavation and the wall.