Abstract: To investigate the service performance of reinforced soil retaining wall with rigid facing in high-speed railway seismic zones, the response characteristics of facing horizontal displacement and surface settlement under seismic action were studied through vibration table tests and numerical simulations, revealing the deformation characteristics of the structure. The findings suggest that regardless of the influence of foundation deformation, rotational deformation occurs in the most parts of the facing, the permanent horizontal displacement after the earthquake shows the trend of large upward and small downward. The surface settlement of the retaining wall exhibits a bimodal distribution pattern, where differential settlement is observed near the ends of connectors and reinforcement bars, and failure initiated near the end of the reinforcement bars. The deformation of the reinforced soil retaining wall is divided into four stages to comprehensively assess the service performance of the structure by using the relationship between the horizontal displacement of the panel and the settlement of the retaining wall surface. Taking the post-construction settlement limit of high-speed railways as a control indicator, a method for determining the displacement index DI of reinforced earth retaining wall is proposed. For the case study presented in this paper, the DI threshold is determined to be 0.3% when the upper part of the reinforced earth retaining wall is a ballastless track structure, and 1.5% when the superstructure is a ballasted track with a design speed of V≥300 km/h. The findings can not only provide references and basis for the design of reinforced soil retaining walls in high-speed railway applications, but also contribute to enriching the seismic disaster prevention theory of reinforced soil retaining walls.

Key words: service performance, reinforced soil retaining wall, rigid facing, settlement, displacement index, high speed railway