FAILURE BEHAVIOR OF REINFORCED RAMMED EARTH WALLS SUBJECTED TO IN-PLANE HORIZONTAL LOADING

The failure behavior of reinforced rammed earth walls is analyzed numerically for the case where rammed earth walls are subjected to in-plane horizontal loading. The effect of vertical compressive prestress is in particular investigated and analysis results are compared with test data in order to clarify the effective reinforcing method to resist earthquakes. The numerical simulation method used in this study is a combination of deformable plane elements and linkage elements in order to represent the brittle characteristics of rammed earth structures.