Experimental study of the Seismic Performance of Different Earth Walls and Their Seismic Retrofitting with Externally Bonded Fibers

This study investigates the seismic performance of various earth walls and their applicability to a seismic retrofitting method that utilizes externally bonded fibers. The failure modes, hysteresis characteristics and load–displacement response of in-plane cyclic loading tests were recorded and analyzed. The experimental results show that the soil property significantly influences the seismic performance of earth walls as well as the effectiveness of the proposed retrofitting technique. The more clayey the soil is, the higher the seismic performance and the better reinforcement effect. However, for sandy clayey wall, the applicability of the proposed retrofitting technique for sandy clayey wall is not promising.