Dynamic Responses of Block Type Quay Walls Under Cyclic Loading

The purpose of this research is to study the dynamic responses of gravity quay walls with block type consisting of "three blocks" experimentally. For this purpose, 1g shaking table tests were conducted under different cyclic loadings for two different saturated granular backfill materials (Soil 1 and Soil 2). In this study, D-n(50) of Soil 1 and Soil 2 are selected as 2.2 cm and 1.0 cm, respectively. During the experiments, accelerations, soil pressures and displacements were measured for each block. Test results pointed out that Soil 2 caused more damage on structures. The measurements for displacement and tilting of each block were discussed in view of "acceptable level of damage in performance-based design" given in PIANC (2001). The result of the study showed that the definitions of damaged levels given in PIANC (2001) were reliable for using in performance-based methods for seismic design of block type quay walls.