Ricerc@Sapienza

This paper describes a new procedure for the performance-based design of geosynthetic-reinforced earth-retaining walls (GREs) using the pseudo-static approach. In this procedure, the seismic coefficient k is calibrated against given levels of seismic performance, the latter typically expressed in terms of threshold values of the permanent displacements accumulated during the seismic event. An equivalence between the seismic-induced upper-bound displacements and the seismic coefficient k is obtained applying the Newmark’s

Under the large forces transmitted by a bridge structure during an earthquake, a bridge abutment may undergo significant displacements deriving from the mobilisation of both the soil and the structural strength. In some cases a controlled yielding of the abutment may produce favourable effects, dissipating seismic energy and limiting the seismic actions into the superstructure. In fact, the bridge design could explicitly account for dissipative features of the soil-abutment system, allowing a certain amount of irreversible displacements compatible with a prescribed performance level.