Abstract: As a flexible retaining structure, reinforced earth retaining wall has superior seismic performance comparing to traditional gravity retaining wall. the dynamic response of the structure under earthquake and other dynamic loads is related to its natural frequency, especially its minimum fundamental frequency. In this study, the reinforced soil retaining wall with full-high rigid facing is investigated. A method is developed to determine the natural frequencies by using elastic foundation beam model and linear spring model to represent panel, fill and reinforcement. Fundamental frequencies calculated by the proposed method agree well with those calculated by the traditional Rayleigh’s method for gravity retaining walls and reinforced soil retaining walls, respectively. Parametric analyses show that laying reinforcements in the backfill can increase the fundamental frequencies. the reinforcement length and reinforcement-soil interface friction coefficient trivially influence the fundamental frequencies of reinforced soil retaining walls. the effects of reinforcement density on fundamental frequencies decrease gradually as reinforcement vertical spacing increases. the values of fundamental frequencies decrease firstly and then increase as facing width increases. fundamental frequencies tend to constant values with decreasing panel facing modulus.

Key words: reinforced soil retaining wall, full-height rigid facing, fundamental frequency, reinforcement length, reinforcement density