EFFECTS OF AVERAGING AND COMPLIANCE ON NEWMARK-TYPE DEFORMATION ANALYSIS

The performance of slopes during earthquake is often accessed in terms of permanent deformation. In the assessment of permanent deformation, Newmark-type rigid block analysis is widely used. Original Newmark-type block approach, however, assumes the potential sliding mass to be rigid, and has been criticized to be potentially unconservative. The paper reviews analytically the impact of this noncompliance assumption on computed permanent deformations. The results indicate that there is a simple criterion that can be used to determine the level of conservativeness of the rigid block approach in cases of gently-sloping slip surfaces and retaining walls.