The retaining wall and the backfill soil are taken as a whole system. For a rotational failure mechanism assumed

the paper studies the external work rate and internal energy dissipation rate by combining the slice method and limit analysis upper bound method. Based on virtual power principle

the formulae are obtained to calculate the horizontal yield acceleration coefficient

numerical solutions of the inclination of the failure surface and the horizontal yield acceleration coefficient are obtained by MATLAB. Case studies are given to illustrate the method

the influential factors such as cohesion and internal frictional angle between filling and wall

vertical seismic coefficient

cohesion and internal friction angle of filling are considered and analyzed. The results show that cohesion and internal friction angle between filling and wall

and vertical seismic effect have a significant influence on the horizontal yield coefficient

the design of retaining wall ought to pay enough attention to this aspect in order to achieve the purpose of economy and security.