Active earth pressure of retaining wall considering wall movement

Abstract

The coulomb’s limit equilibrium theory is employed for the active earth pressure calculation of retaining wall considering translational wall movement. It is considered that the earth pressure against the back of the wall is due to the thrust exerted by a wedge of soil between the wall and a plane passing through the heel of the wall. The soil–wall friction angle and internal soil friction angle are obtained via the simulation of the unloading triaxial test. The basic equations are established by considering the force equilibrium of a partial soil wedge. The lateral earth pressure coefficient is achieved through the moment equilibrium of the whole soil wedge. Comparisons illustrating the accuracy of the proposed approach are made with solutions available in the literature.

Keywords:

• active earth pressure
• unloading triaxial test
• partial soil wedge
• translational wall movement

Acknowledgements

The work described herein is supported by a grant provided by Siemens AG and DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) (grant number A11-93845). The author expresses his sincere appreciation for the support.