Centrifugal model experiment to study seismic behavior of wall structure embedded into bedrock

In the Hamaoka Nuclear Power Station, the tsunami protection wall was constructed along coastline around the site, following the tsunami disaster of the 2011 off the Pacific coast of Tohoku Earthquake on March 11, 2011. The tsunami protection wall, built between the dune embankment facing the sea and power station facilities, features underground walls as the foundation structure which embedded into the foundation ground consists of rock and relatively dense sand deposit. In this study, centrifugal model experiments were firstly performed to investigate the stability of the tsunami protection wall under the severe earthquake. Followings were found from the experiments. 1) Seismic response of the tsunami protection wall is affected by the existence of dune embankment. 2) Stability of the structure, in terms of the tsunami protection wall movement and the deformation of foundation structure, up to the maximum acceleration of 2,000 Gals input motion is verified. Then, non-linear FE analyses were performed to assess the validation of the code utilizing in the design process, and verified the reproductivities of the deformation of the foundation as well as the reaction force distribution of the ground against the wall foundation during the earthquake. (author)