Seismic response of prestressed anchor sheet pile wall from shaking table tests

The prestressed anchor sheet pile wall is a type of light retaining structure which has been widely used in recent twenty years. This structure has advantages of safety, reliability and low construction cost, and it has been successfully used in railways, highways and other projects. In addition, the prestressed anchor sheet pile wall has been proven to be an excellent seismic structure from investigation of damaged earth structures in Wenchuan Earthquake in China. However, due to the complex stress system, a series of fundamental and theoretical issues of construction technology are not solved completely, and its theoretical understanding lags greatly behind application, especially in the area of seismic design theory. Large shaking table tests, as the most direct laboratory test method, are performed to study seismic response. Scaled horizontal and vertical accelerations recorded at the Wolong Station in Wenchuan Earthquake are used to excite the model wall. Time histories of seismic earth pressures at 6 levels, displacements of the wall at two levels, accelerations at 5 levels in the slope and the prestress of cable are measured. The test results reveal the distribution pattern of earth pressures, seismic response of displacement and cable prestress, dynamic characteristics and amplification effect of reinforced slopes under earthquakes, and they provide a reliable basis for understanding the seismic behaviors and mechanism of the prestressed anchor sheet pile wall.