Investigations into damaged geotechnical structures after earthquakes reveal that the sheet pile wall has good seismic performance

especially reinforced by anchor cables. However

the research about sheet pile wall mostly focuses on its behavior under static conditions at present

while scarce achievements on dynamic response and seismic working mechanism yet. The comparative study of seismic response characteristics regarding two types of sheet pile wall

namely sheet pile wall and anchored sheet pile wall

has not been reported in literatures. In this paper

sheet pile wall and anchored sheet pile wall are tested in a large scale shaking table test

and dynamic characteristics of these two types of structures are analyzed. The experiment results show that the dynamic responses of time histories of earth pressures

anchor cable tensions

and displacements of pile from these two types of structures are closely relate to input seismic parameter characteristics

e.g. curve shape and variation trend. The occurrence time between peak value and peak ground acceleration is consistent. The installment of anchor cables can stabilize slope and restrict displacement of pile efficiently

especially in high seismic intensity zones where soil nonlinearity increases. Prestressed anchor cables can constrain displacement of pile. The displacement of sheet pile wall is 2.4 times of displacement of anchored sheet pile wall when the seismic coefficient reaches 0.4. The application of prestress in anchor cables can generate pseudo-active counter pressure from pile to soil

resulting in increased internal force in cantilever segment. Under the conditions of static loading and 0.1 of seismic coefficient

the landslide thrusts and soil resistance of two types are close. The maximum difference of measured intensity is less than 20 percent

indicating minor anchor cable effect. When seismic coefficient is larger than 0.2

anchor cables improves the compatibility of deformation. In this situation

the interactive force between pile and soil increases

and resistance of soil decreases greatly

and the slope is more stable. Meanwhile

the cable tension makes internal force larger in cantilever segment. Thus cantilever segment should be strengthened in structural design

and embedded segment can be weaken appropriately. The achievement of analysis provides reference for seismic design

rebuilding after earthquake

and revision of related specifications in high seismic intensity zones.