Numerical Study on Behavior of Narrow Back-to-Back Geosynthetic Reinforced Soil Walls

Narrow back-to-back geosynthetic reinforced soil (BBGRS) walls with aspect ratios of 0.5-1 are commonly used for roadway and railway bridge embankments having limited width. Although narrow BBGRS walls are widely used, only a few numerical and physical modeling studies have reported their seismic response. Hence, this study performs a numerical study to understand the seismic behavior and observe factors affecting the seismic response of narrow BBGRS walls. The result of this study identifies the value of critical acceleration for narrow BBGRS walls. This study highlights the importance of considering the velocities of earthquake motions while estimating the response of narrow BBGRS walls. These results aid the designer in developing a design methodology for accurate response prediction for BBGRS walls.