Direct Displacement-Based Design of Embedded Retaining Structures

The paper presents the displacement seismic design method known as ???Direct Displacement ???
philosophy behind DDBD is that structures ??? including geotechnical structures ??? should be designed to achieve a specified performance level under a specified seismic intensity. The calculation steps of the method are described in detail with considerable discussion on their applicability to cantilever and anchored retaining structures. As a final result, the DDBD procedure provides a rational design approach which relies on a convenient reduction of seismic thrusts based on the system capacity of dissipating energy (ductility capacity).