Upper bound solution on seismic anchor force and earth pressure of a combined retaining structure

Gravity wall combined with anchoring frame beam is widely adopted to support a high slope under complex geomorphic condition, in which the rigid gravity wall is adopted as a lower structure and the flexible anchoring frame beam serves as an upper structure. The seismic anchor force and the seismic active earth pressure are two essential issues for the seismic design of combined retaining structure in high seismic intensity area. In this study, an analytical model of combined retaining structure is established based on the upper bound theorem of limit analysis, and the formulas for seismic anchor force and seismic active earth pressure of combined retaining structure are derived. The results are optimized by using the global optimization algorithm. The proposed method is verified by a comparison with previous method. Moreover, the influence of main parameters on seismic anchor force and seismic active earth pressure is analyzed to facilitate the seismic design of such combined retaining structure.