Performance-based seismic fragility analysis of retaining walls based on the probability density evolution method

Seismic fragility analysis is an efficient way to study the seismic behaviour and performance of structures under the excitation of earthquakes of varying intensity, and an essential part of the seismic risk assessment of structures. A recently developed dynamic reliability methodology, the probability density evolution method (PDEM), is proposed for the dynamic reliability and seismic fragility analysis of a retaining wall. The PDEM can obtain an instantaneous probability density function of the seismic responses and easily acquire the seismic reliability of the structural system. An important advantage of the PDEM is its high efficiency relative to that of the Monte Carlo simulation method, which is often used in the reliability and fragility analysis of structures. The present study uses a typical gravity retaining wall to illustrate stochastic seismic responses and fragility curves that can be obtained by the PDEM. The combined uncertainties of the seismic force and soil properties are explicitly and systematically modelled by stochastic ground motions and random variables respectively. The performance of the retaining wall is analysed for different acceptable levels of backfill settlement. Additionally, seismic fragility curves are constructed without assuming the distribution of the seismic response.