: In order to improve the seismic performance of GRS RWs, a new type of
geocell, called square-shaped geocell having straight longitudinal members with
transversal walls at separated locations was developed. The results of previous pullout
tests have clearly shown the effectiveness of newly-developed geocell (square-shaped
geocell) to achieve a higher pullout resistance than both conventional-type geocell
(diamond-shaped geocell) and ordinary geogrid. In this paper, to check whether
square-shaped geocell reinforced soil retaining wall has a substantially high seismic
stability against a large seismic load, two shaking table model tests on reinforced soil
retaining walls by using square-shaped geocell models and geogrid models backfilled in
sandy soil were carried out. And a gravity-type retaining wall model was also tested for
comparison. It is found that square-shaped geocell reinforced soil retaining wall model
exhibited higher seismic performance than geogrid reinforced soil retaining wall model
and gravity-type retaining wall model from the evaluation of residual sliding
displacement of the wall facing, residual overturning angle of the wall facing, settlements
of the backfill and response acceleration of the wall facing. In addition, the determination
of critical acceleration was also discussed.