Rotating block method for seismic displacement of gravity wall

A rotating block method is developed to calculate the rotational displaceme nts of gravity retaining walls based on rigid foundations under seismic loa ding. The method is similar to the pseudostatic sliding block method of New mark. When a threshold acceleration for rotation is;exceeded, a rigid wall will start to rotate until the angular velocity for rotation is reduced to zero. The influence of ground motion characteristics on computed wall defor mation was evaluated. The procedure was validated by data from centrifuge t ests. This method is also applicable for the most complex cases when the sl iding and rotation of a gravity wall are coupled.