Numerical study of the seismic performance of mechanically stabilized earth wall located on the improved liquefiable soil

Numerical study of the seismic performance of mechanically stabilized earth wall located on the improved liquefiable soil | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Numerical study of the seismic performance of mechanically stabilized earth wall located on the improved liquefiable soil Zahra Yazdani, Mehdi Ashtiani, Ali Asgari This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8890922/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 4 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) walls have proven to be highly effective in a wide range of applications, particularly in transportation and roadway infrastructure. Their advantages include cost efficiency, speed of construction, high load-carrying capacity, and favorable seismic performance compared to conventional retaining systems. This study investigates the seismic behavior of a geogrid-reinforced MSE wall constructed over liquefiable soil improved via deep soil mixing (DSM) arranged in a grid configuration, using a three-dimensional finite element model developed in OpenSees. The effects of the number and length of DSM grids, as well as the presence and thickness of the gravel blanket, were investigated, and the performance of DSM grids was compared with that of discrete DSM columns and stone columns. The results indicated that increasing the gravel blanket thickness by 0.5 m reduces the surface settlement within the backfill behind the MSE wall by approximately 25%. The presence of DSM grids can further decrease settlement by up to 27%, and increasing the number of grids contributes to liquefaction mitigation; however, beyond a certain density, the added stiffness amplifies seismic accelerations transmitted to the wall. Comparison of DSM grids, discrete DSM columns, and stone columns showed that discrete DSM columns and stone columns reduce excess pore water pressure by 37% and 50%, respectively, relative to DSM grids. Nevertheless, with respect to settlement performance, DSM grids yielded the smallest settlements, whereas stone columns exhibited the greatest. Liquefaction Stabilized earth wall Deep soil mixing Stone column Nonlinear three-dimensional modeling Full Text Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Reviewers invited by journal 17 Apr, 2026 Editor invited by journal 28 Feb, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 19 Feb, 2026 First submitted to journal 17 Feb, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8890922","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":625147902,"identity":"1a98a7b8-1acc-4648-bf3e-dfd25a50bb3f","order_by":0,"name":"Zahra Yazdani","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Babol Noshirvani University of Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Zahra","middleName":"","lastName":"Yazdani","suffix":""},{"id":625147903,"identity":"2609064c-3f37-458f-a836-b1e12a972c62","order_by":1,"name":"Mehdi Ashtiani","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA2UlEQVRIie3RPQrCMBiA4S8E2iXFNdKhJxDqEh1aepUUwd3FUQoFO7r2GAFBcStkcPQKSqGzUJCOJuIgCGlxcsg75A8eEgiAzfanYQCqRlwBf+1RNoBwTRwOnA8neiIhvK8xN8lw3a66eTBzyeN66yAYZXh7NxFWOcwvOZ2ecu8YqodNywrlpZkAw4RTJKR3oIogASg3PoxVbtsqkghJGk2SAYSEviKpIo4maT+RZO2TJV0I6TDK1aKUfeRc7FsSbWJxkc24i6J4VxS1keiv/4x+ndhsNpvth56RHD8E+kQL2wAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6454-2613","institution":"Babol Noshirvani University of Technology","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Mehdi","middleName":"","lastName":"Ashtiani","suffix":""},{"id":625147904,"identity":"5fb8cb55-5e2a-44e6-b9d6-d6fbf745d66e","order_by":2,"name":"Ali Asgari","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Mazandaran","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ali","middleName":"","lastName":"Asgari","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-02-16 07:54:00","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8890922/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8890922/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":108007556,"identity":"a207c8d0-79d2-4777-bb16-22c283318103","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-28 13:00:32","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1519318,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"YazdaniBulletinEE.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8890922/v1_covered_11e796cf-f4e2-4b88-aead-af38c7d154ef.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"","formattedTitle":"Numerical study of the seismic performance of mechanically stabilized earth wall located on the improved liquefiable soil","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"bulletin-of-earthquake-engineering","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"beee","sideBox":"Learn more about [Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering](https://www.springer.com/journal/10518)","snPcode":"10518","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/10518/3","title":"Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"Liquefaction, Stabilized earth wall, Deep soil mixing, Stone column, Nonlinear three-dimensional modeling","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8890922/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8890922/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eMechanically stabilized earth (MSE) walls have proven to be highly effective in a wide range of applications, particularly in transportation and roadway infrastructure. 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