Abstract: Understanding the interaction mechanism between the soil and a quay wall composed of large-diameter bottomless cylinders is vital to the safe and economic design of the quay wall.Based on dimensional analysis,a number of dimensionless groups that governed the performance of the quay wall were investigated,identified and used to design and interpret centrifuge model tests.In all centrifuge model tests performed,a deformation mechanism was observed,that is,the upper part of the wall tilted outward away from the retained soil,and the ground behind it settled.Based on multi-regression analysis of the centrifuge test results,it was found that the horizontal displacement of the wall/cylinder was most sensitive to the ratio of embedded soil depth in front of the cylinder to the height of the cylinder and it was 50% less sensitive to the ratio of the diameter to the height of the cylinder.Relatively the measured deformation and lateral earth pressure were insensitive to the roughness of the wall.Lateral earth pressures acting on the wall could be predicted from the Rankine active earth pressure theory with the undrained assumption in the short term.