Development of centrifuge model test facility of retaining wall

Estimation of earth pressures constitutes an important subject of research in geotechnical engineering.Centrifuge model test provides a powerful tool for the study of earth pressure.A set of centrifuge model test facility for the earth pressure is developed for the study of earth pressure at rest and active side for the rigid retaining wall system.A motor is employed to make the model retaining wall moving slowly and uniformly.Besides,an automatic control system is developed to retain the wall at rest when the centrifuge acceleration increases.Centrifuge model tests are conducted for the rigid retaining wall with horizontal sand backfill. Variation of earth pressure and deformation of backfill with the wall displacement is measured.The test results show a good regularity. Therefore,the facility is verified to be effective for the study of earth pressure at the active side with translational wall displacement.