Centrifuge modelling of fibre-reinforcement using as a liquefaction countermeasure of quay wall backfill

Two centrifuge tests were carried out to evaluate the use of fibre-reinforcement to mitigate backfill liquefaction induced damage behind a caisson type quay wall. Liquefiable clean sand backfill was applied in one test as a benchmark of the other in which the whole backfill was fibre-reinforced. The presence of fibres in backfill effectively reduced lateral displacement of quay wall and backfill settlement. Quay wall outward displacement induced an excess pore pressure drop in the clean sand backfill adjacent to the back of quay wall, while this phenomenon did not occur in fibre-reinforced backfill. Increase of shear strength and self-supporting behaviour at large shear strain may be the beneficial effects of fibre-reinforcement