Stability analysis of steep nailed slopes under seismic condition using 3-D finite element method

This paper presents the behavior of steep nailed soil slopes under seismic conditions by numerical studies. Three-dimensional solid numerical models have been developed to simulate steep nailed soil slopes by finite element (FE) method. The real-time history analyses are carried out to study the seismic response of steep-nailed soil slopes. The effect of various influencing parameters such as the nail inclination, nail length, frequency amplification factor, and the slope angles on the seismic resistance and failure mechanism of the nailed slopes is studied in details. All the numerical models developed have been used to examine the shaking table test results of steep nailed slopes (Hong et al., 2005). The numerical results such as maximum lateral displacements at various heights of the facing are compared with the test results for two different nail inclinations, nail lengths, frequency amplification factors, and the slope angles at various peak amplitudes of accelerations.