Seismic Active Lateral Earth Pressure on Retaining Walls with Broken Slope Backfill: A Finite Element Limit Analysis Approach

The determination of lateral earth pressure on retaining walls is a classical stability problem in geotechnical engineering. Numerous studies have investigated lateral earth pressure for retaining walls with varying geometries and a range of backfill soils under both static and seismic conditions. Retaining walls with broken sloped backfills (RWBSB) are commonly used in North America; however, limited research has been conducted on the seismic behavior of these walls. This study addresses that gap by applying finite element limit analysis (FELA) over a wide range of horizontal seismic coefficients, geometric configurations, and shear strength parameters. The results indicate that the active earth pressure coefficient increases with the height of the broken slope, provided the failure mechanism extends into the horizontal portion of the backfill.