Active earth pressure in cohesive soils with an inclined ground surface: Discussion

2001 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 662
Author(s):  
Vincent Silvestri
2012 ◽  
Vol 49 (6) ◽  
pp. 651-658 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pérsio L.A. Barros ◽  
Petrucio J. Santos

A calculation method for the active earth pressure on the possibly inclined face of a retaining wall provided with a drainage system along the soil–structure interface is presented. The soil is cohesionless and fully saturated to the ground surface. This situation may arise during heavy rainstorms. To solve the problem, the water seepage through the soil is first analyzed using a numerical procedure based on the boundary element method. Then, the obtained pore-water pressure is used in a Coulomb-type formulation, which supposes a plane failure surface inside the backfill when the wall movement is enough to put the soil mass in the active state. The formulation provides coefficients of active pressure with seepage effect which can be used to evaluate the active earth thrust on walls of any height. A series of charts with values of the coefficients of active earth pressure with seepage calculated for selected values of the soil internal friction angle, the wall–soil friction angle, and the wall face inclination is presented.


2000 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 171-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nirmala Gnanapragasam

An analytical solution is developed to determine the active lateral earth pressure distribution on a retaining structure when it consists of a cohesive backfill (internal friction angle ϕ > 0, cohesion c > 0) with an inclined ground surface. The solution derived encompasses both Bell's equation (for cohesive or cohesionless backfill with a horizontal ground surface) and Rankine's solution (for cohesionless backfill with an inclined ground surface). The orientation of the failure surface is also determined. Results indicate that, unlike the soil-wall scenarios of Bell and Rankine where the failure planes are parallel with a fixed orientation independent of the overburden pressure, for sloping cohesive backfill (ϕ > 0, c > 0) the slope of the failure surface is a function of the overburden pressure and becomes shallower with depth, thus forming a curvilinear failure surface. The solution developed can also be used to check the sustainability of a slope. The analytical solution can be programmed conveniently in a computer.Key words: retaining structure, active earth pressure, cohesive backfill.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 3243
Author(s):  
Meilin Liu ◽  
Xiangsheng Chen ◽  
Zhenzhong Hu ◽  
Shuya Liu

For c-φ soil formation (cohesive soil) of limited width with ground surface overload behind a deep retaining structure, a modified active earth pressure calculation model is established in this study. And three key issues are addressed through improved soil arching effect. First, the soil-wall interaction mechanism is determined by considering the soil arching effect. The slip surface of a limited soil is proved to be a double-fold line passing through the retaining wall toe and intersecting the side wall of the existing underground structure until it reaches the ground surface along the existing side wall. Second, the limited width boundary is explicated. And third, the variation in the active earth pressure from parameters of limited c-φ soil is determined. The lateral active earth pressure coefficient is nonlinear distributed based on the improved soil arching effect of the symmetric catenary curve. Furthermore, the active earth pressure distribution, the tension crack at the top of the retaining wall and the resultant force and its action point were obtained. By comparing with the existing analytical methods, such as the Rankine method, it demonstrates that the model proposed in this study is much closer to the measured and numerical results. Ignoring the influence of soil cohesion and the limited width will exponentially reduce the overall stability of the retaining structure and increase the risk of accidents.


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