“

NEW WORDS
Reinforced Study and Design of
Earth
A composite
Reinforced Earth Retaining
material having Wall with steel Reinforcement
facing panels, soil
reinforcement for Highway Embankment
strips and select
fill as basic TABLE OF CONTENTS
components.

Why highway embankment is needed to be

Highway strengthened?_____________________________________________3
Embankment What is done to strengthen the embankment?_________3
A raised earthen Which method is the best?_______________________________4
structure used for What is a Reinforced Earth?______________________________5
increasing the Introduction to reinforced soil structure________________6
level of pavement
The Reinforced Earth Retaining Wall_____________________6
from the ground
due to a number Mechanism Of Reinforced Soil____________________________7
of factors. Shear Box Analogy Concept______________________________8
What can be used as a Reinforcement?________________10
1._________________________________________________Geosynthetics
________________________________________________________________10
2._____________________________________________Reinforcing strips
________________________________________________________________10
Stability of Retaining Walls______________________________11
Metallic Strip Reinforcement____________________________12
APPENDIX A (Review of Shear Strength)_______________22
APPENDIX B (Rankine’s Theory of Lateral earth
Pressure)_________________________________________________26
Table Of Figures
Figure a External stabilization...........................................6
Figure b Internally stabilized reinforced soil.......................6
Figure c (a) Element of unreinforced soil, (b) Element of
reinforced soil............................................................7
Figure d Slopes showing failure surface.............................8
Figure e shear box test on unreinforced and reinforced soil...............................10

2 | Page
Figure f External stability checks (after Transportation Research Board, 1995)...11
Figure g Steel reinforced earth retaining wall...................................................12
Figure h Analysis of a Reinforced Earth retaining Wall.......................................14
Figure i Understanding the equation of Lateral pressure due to Surcharge.........15
Figure j Calculation for Overturning..................................................................20

PART 1 Introduction

Why highway embankment is needed to be strengthened?

A highway embankment is a structure (usually made up of earth in Pakistan)
which has a sufficient height to separate the pavement built over it from the
ground level. The reasons why it is necessary to make it strong are given
below:

• It has to bear the forces of water during the flood.

• It has to bear huge loading of traffic with large number of repetitions.

• To avoid the Land sliding.

• Over-burden

• Dead and Live Load Surcharge

• Earth Pressure

• Hydrostatic Pressure

• Seismic Loads

• Construction Loads etc…..

What is done to strengthen the embankment?

There are a large number of solutions to the problem of strengthening an
earthen embankment. These include:

• Giving slopes on both sides of embankment when embankment height

is sufficiently high.

• Ability of Plant Roots to Strengthen Soil

• Influence of Short Polymeric Fibers on Crack Development in Clays
• Recycled Plastic Soil Nails Provide Slope Stabilization Project
3 | Page
 • In-situ densification of soils.
• Ground improvement and modification.
• Reinforced soil.
• Grouting.
• Grading and other soil improvement methods

Sheet piling Sheet piling may be composed of steel, timber or concrete

piles, with each pile being linked to the next to form a continuous wall.
Sheet pile walls are sufficiently watertight for most practical purposes.

Grouting covers different injection techniques of special liquid or slurry

materials called grouts into the ground for the purpose of improving the
soil or rock.

Muckshift can be described as the excavation and exchange of

unsuitable soil regions by more qualified ones. It is a kind of large scale
land clearance.

Sandbagging Sandbags can be used for preventing a leach ate

discharge downstream of the embankment site.

Geosynthetical structures

Rock facing / rock riprap slope surface consists of rock or cobble fills,
no special slope surface treatment is necessary. Downstream slopes with
outer sand and gravel should be protected against erosion especially
during flood.

Which method is the best?

Most of these methods work in different problems in different situations and
therefore none can be said as best. Another reason for this is that other than
reinforcing the earth and making a composite material called reinforced
earth, all the above mentioned methods require having slopes of
embankment for an economical design.

There can be a situation where one wants to have an embankment with

angle of repose 90 degrees. This can be achieved by employing the
reinforced earth concept for the embankment.

4 | Page
PART 2
Reinforced Earth

What is a Reinforced Earth?

A Reinforced Soil System (RSS) is a composite material which has the
following basic components;

• Facing Panel (Commonly made of concrete, steel plate, wire mesh,

block etc…)

• Soil Reinforcement Strips (Galvanized steel, geotextiles, etc)

• Select Fill (Cohesionless soil meeting specific defined requirements)

The frictional forces created when combining the select fill with the flexible
metallic or non-metallic reinforcing strips result in a robust structural
material, commonly known as Reinforced Earth. The strips are attached to a
front facing panel, which may be manufactured from concrete or steel. The
facing material selected is generally dependent on it having sufficient
durability to accommodate the design life of the structure, and also meet the
aesthetic needs of the project. The Reinforced Earth monolithic mass acts
cohesively and supports it’s own weight and any applied loads which may
include all the forces as described in part 1 of this report. The forces induced
in the steel strips can be precisely calculated and depend on ;-

• Strip geometry

• Strip frictional characteristics

• Vertical soil pressure on the strip

• Strength and stiffness characteristics on the strip

Importantly, the durability of the structure relies heavily on the ability of the
soil reinforcement strip to maintain a level of tensile strength in the
operational environment for the duration of the structure’s design life. The
strip made up of steel, if used, is therefore designed to include a sacrificial
5 | Page
steel thickness, which predicts the amount of strip corrosion throughout the
design life of the structure. This is achieved by controlling the environment in
which the strip will be operating. The select fill, whilst having certain physical
requirements that ensure it is activated in forming part of the structural
mass, is also required to have electrochemical characteristics that also
ensures that corrosion of the strip is not excessive or beyond the allowance
made in the strip design. Furthermore, the strip is coated with zinc
galvanizing for further protection.

The final length and frequency of the soil reinforcement strips is a function of
the combinations of geometric and physical properties of the structure and
the applied design loads. Whilst the facing to the Reinforced Earth wall
technically does not take on a structural role in support of the loads, it
obviously forms an important part in the wall in preventing the erosion of
backfill, supporting the soil reinforcement and weathering the local
environment. Typically, for roads projects, concrete is the only economical
material that can achieve the necessary 100 year design life without the
need for any continuous maintenance or repair. The facing also forms the
most visual aspect of the structure and is often required to have some
aesthetic appeal, particularly in urban areas. Concrete can lend itself readily
to the provision of architectural and aesthetic requirements. The facing
panels can however, often be a complex component to manufacture as each
facing panel may have very individual
characteristics with respect to its
geometry, finish or cast-in inclusions.

Introduction to reinforced soil

structure
Reinforced soil structures are
fundamentally different from
conventional earth retaining systems
which are externally stabilized in thatFigure a External stabilizationthey
utilize a different mechanism for support and are internally stabilized. An
externally stabilized system uses an external structural wall against which
stabilizing forces are mobilized, for example, gravity retaining walls and
excavations supported with strutting (fig A)
An internally stabilized system involves reinforcements installed within &
extending beyond the potential failure mass (tied back, reinforced soil walls,
and soil-nailed excavations). With this system, the interactions between the
reinforcements and soil (to mobilize the tensile capacity of closely spaced

6 | Page
reinforcing elements) eliminate the
need for a structural wall or a support
(figure B)

The Reinforced Earth

Retaining Wall
According to Reinforced Earth Figure b Internally stabilized reinforced soil
company,
®
Reinforced Earth retaining walls are
gravity structures consisting of
alternating layers of granular backfill
and reinforcing strips with a modular precast concrete facing. They are used
extensively in transportation and other civil engineering applications.
Because of its high load-carrying capacity, Reinforced Earth is ideal for very
high or heavy-loaded retaining walls.

The inherent flexibility of the composite material makes it possible to build

on compressible foundation soils or unstable slopes. These performance
advantages combined with low materials volume and a rapid, predictable
and easy construction process make Reinforced Earth an extremely cost-
effective solution over conventional retaining structures.

7 | Page
Mechanism Of Reinforced Soil
The mechanism of reinforced soil can be explained in simple terms
considering an element of cohesionless soil shown in figure C(a) . If a
vertical stress is applied on the soil it deforms both laterally and vertically
and reaches a new equilibrium. If reinforcement in the form of plane sheet is
introduced in the sample before the application of vertical stress on the
sample,

Figure c (a) Element of unreinforced soil, (b) Element of reinforced soil

deformations are restrained due to the interaction b/w the soil and the
reinforcement to some extent as in figure C (b). introduction of reinforcement
generates inward lateral stress, which resists the shear stresses that are
generated when a vertical stress (sigma 1) is applied. If there is no
significant deformation, the lateral stress is equal to Ko times the vertical
stress and this condition prevails at higher vertical stresses also.

8 | Page
 The shear stress at the interface of soil and reinforcement generates strains
in the reinforcement and tensile force is mobilized in the reinforcement. If the
reinforcement force exceeds the tensile capacity of sheet reinforcement,
rupture failure occurs. Secondly, it is likely that a slip occurs b/w soil &
reinforcement if deformation are high or interface is smooth. These two
conditions viz tesile failure & pullout failure need to be examined to ensure
stability of reinforced soil structures.

Shear Box Analogy Concept

These shear box test simulates the mechanism and behavior of both
unreinforced and reinforced soils.
Figure on the left shows slope of unreinforced soil and on the right shows
slope of reinforced soil.

Figure d Slopes showing failure surface

9 | Page
What can be used as a Reinforcement?
1. Geosynthetics
Figure 2 shear box test on unreinforced and reinforced soilASTMhas defined a
geosynthetic as a
planar product manufactured from a polymeric material used with soil, rock,
earth, or other geotechnical-related material as an integral part of a civil
engineering project, structure, or system.

Geotextiles: A geotextile is a permeable geosynthetic made of textile

materials Geotextile in fabric form are being used as a basal reinforcement
of embankment and fills on the ground

Geogrids: Geogrids are primarily used for reinforcement; they are formed
by a regular network of tensile elements with apertures of sufficient size to
interlock with surrounding fill material. These are made up of High Density
Polyethylene (HDPE) and interconnected longitudinal and transverse
Member. These are made from sheets of polymer by punching holes and
stretching the sheets in one or two direction.

Geocomposits: Geotextiles and related products such as nets and grids can
be combined with geomembranes and other synthetics to take advantage of
the best attributes of each component. These products are called
geocomposites.

10 | P a g e
 2. Reinforcing strips
Reinforced members are composed of thin wide steel or aluminum strips
called ties. The flexibility of reinforcing strips and their tensile strengths are
essential elements. The reinforcing strips are made of mild galvanized steel,
stainless steel or aluminum alloy. Bolts and nuts for fixing the ties are made
of the same material as that of the reinforcing strips. The durability of the
strips depends on the chemical and electro-chemical behavior of these
metals when in contact with soil particles

Works Cited
Introduction to Soil Reinforcement and Geosynthetics [Book] / auth.
Babu Visakumar. - to be added : to be added, to be added. - Vol. to be added.

PART 3 Stability of Retaining

Walls

A retaining wall may fail in any of the following ways (see figures):

• It may overturn about its toe.

• It may slide along its base.

• It may fail due to the loss of bearing capacity of the soil supporting the
base.

• It may undergo deep-seated shear failure.

• It may go through excessive settlement.

11 | P a g e
Figure f External stability checks (after Transportation Research Board, 1995)

When a weak soil layer is located at a shallow depth—that is, within a depth
of 1.5 times the width of the base slab of the retaining wall—the possibility of
excessive settlement should be considered. In some cases, the use of
lightweight backfill material behind the retaining wall may solve the problem.

PART 4 Retaining Walls

with
Metallic Strip
Reinforcement

As discussed before, the reinforced earth retaining wall can deploy steel and
geotextiles as reinforcements. In this part we will be looking at the design of
reinforced earth wall using steel as reinforcement. A basic model of steel
reinforced earth retaining wall is shown in figure (f).

12 | P a g e
Figure 0 Steel reinforced earth retaining wall

It can be seen that it consists of:

• Granular soil as backfill

• Thin, wide steel reinforcing strips placed at regular intervals and

• A cover or skin on the front face of the wall

Calculation of active horizontal and vertical earth pressures

Figure (g) shows a retaining wall with granular backfill having a unit weight of
γ1 and a friction angle of ф1. Below the base of the retaining wall, the in-situ
soil has been excavated and recompacted, with granular soil used as backfill.
Below the backfill the in-situ soil has the unit weight of γ2, friction angle of ф2
and cohesion of c2’. A surcharge having intensity of q per unit area lies atop
the retaining wall, which has reinforcement ties at depths z= 0, Sv, 2Sv, . . . ,
NSv. The height of the wall is NSv = H. According to Rankine active pressure
theory (see Appendix B for details),

Where = Rankine active pressure at any depth z

For dry granular soilswith no surcharge at the top, = 0, = and

Ka = tan 2
(45 – ф1’/2). Thus,

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When surcharge is added at the top, as shown then

= (1) + (2)

Due to Due to
soil Surchar
only ge

According to Laba and Kennedy (1986),

(For z≤2b’)
And

(For z›2b’)
Also when a surcharge is added at the top the lateral pressure at any depth
is

= + (2) Due to
Due to Surchar
soil ge
only

14 | P a g e
Figure h Analysis of a Reinforced Earth retaining Wall

According to Laba and Kennedy (1986)

= M[2q/π(β-

↑
(In radians)
Where

M = [1.4 – (0.4 /0.14H)] ≥ 1

Tie Force
The tie force per unit length of wall developed at any depth z (figure f) is

T = active earth pressure at depth z x area of the wall to be supported by the

tie

15 | P a g e
 Figure i Understanding the equation of Lateral pressure due to Surcharge

T=)
Factor of Safety against Tie Failure
The reinforcement ties at each level, and thus the walls, could fail by either,

(a) Tie breaking or

(b) Tie pullout

Yield or breaking strength of each tie / maximum

force in any tie

/)
Where = width of each tie
= thickness of each tie
= yield or breaking strength of the tie material
A factor of safety of about 2.5 – 3 is generally recommended for ties at all
levels.

Reinforcing strips at any depth z will fail by pullout if the frictional

resistance developed along the surfaces of the ties is less than the force to
which the ties are being subjected. The effective length of the ties along

16 | P a g e
which frictional resistance is developed may be conservatively taken as the
length that extends beyond the limits of the Rankine active failure zone,
which is the zone ABC in figure(). Line BC makes an angle 45 + ф1’/2 with the
horizontal. Now the maximum friction force that can be realized for a
tie at depth z is

Where = effective length

= effective vertical pressure at a depth z

фu = soil - tie friction angle

thus the factor of safety against tie pullout at any depth z is

FS(P) = FR / T
)
Total length of Tie
The total length of ties at any depth is

L = lr + le
l
Where r = length within the rankine failure zone

le = effective length

} + )}
The Design Procedure with summary of steps
Following is a step-by-step procedure for the design of reinforced-earth
retaining wall

General

17 | P a g e
Determine the height of the wall, H, and the properties of the granular
.)backfill material, such as the unit weight () and the angle of friction (ф1

Obtain the soil-tie friction angle, (фu) and the required value of FS (B) and
FS(P) |
Exhibit 1

Given Data And general Requirements Units

Height of the Embankment 8 metres
cohesion 52 kN/m2
Unit Weight of
kN/m3
Granular Backfill (γ 1 ) 16.6
Angle of Friction
degrees
of Backfill (φ 1 ') 30
Soil-Tie Friction Angle (φ u') 20 degrees
Factor of Safety
n/a
against Tie-Breaking FS(B) 3
Factor of Safety
n/a
against Tie Pull-out FS(P) 3
Horizontal Tie Spacing (SH) 1 metres
vertical Tie Spacing (SV) 0.5 metres
Width of Reinforcing
metres
Strip (ω ) 0.075
Load per unit area q 10
Span of Load a 3 metres
Distance of Load
metres
from Wall b 0.1
M 0.543 n/a
Angle α 1.32 radians
Angle β 0.1357 radians
Lateral Pressure due
kN/m2
to Surcharge σ'a(2) 7.033141
Lateral Pressure due
kN/m2
to Soil Only σ'a(1) 130.4
Total Lateral
kN/m2
Pressure σ'a 137.4331
Tie Force T 68.71657 kN
Thickness of ties 0.011453 metres

18 | P a g e
 Length within the rankine
metres
failure zone lr 0
Effective length of Ties le 4.625899 metres
Length of Ties L 4.625899 metres
Ka 0.333

Internal Stability (see the attached Exhibit 2 and the result of internal
stability analysis in succeeding pages)

Assume values for horizontal and vertical tie spacing. Also, assume the width
of reinforcing strip, w, to be used.

Calculate from given Eqs.

Calculate the tie forces at various levels.

For the known values of FS(B), calculate the thickness of ties, t, required to
resist the tie breakout:

)/
The convention is to keep the magnitude of t the same at all levels, so in Eq.
should equal (max).

For the known values of Φu and FS(P), determine the length L of the ties at
various levels.

The magnitudes of S v , S H , t , , and L may be changed to obtain the most

economical design.

External Stability

1) Check for overturning, using Figure () as a guide. Taking the moment

about B yields the overturning moment for the unit length of the wall:

Mo = Pa z’

Here, Pa = active force =

Calculation shown for the above equation

19 | P a g e
 soil only
8
⌠
 5.478h
⋅ dh → 175.296= 175.296
⌡
0

⌠
  1.4 − .96  ⋅ 1.66dH → 2.324H
  ⋅ + −11.382857142857142857
⋅ ln ) H)
  .14H 
⌡

2
⌠
  1.4 − .04  ⋅  20 ⋅ ) 1.159085553− sin ) 1.159085553 ) ) dH → 1.9955799158760896291
3   π ) ⋅ cos ) 2⋅ 0.099668652
⌡   

⌠ .14H
1  1.4 − .04  ⋅  20 ⋅ ) 0.947871788− sin ) 0.947871788 ) ) dH → 1.1424541308466395876
 
   ) ⋅ cos) 2⋅ 0.049958396 = 1.142
.14H   π 
⌡
2

7
⌠
  1.4 − .04  ⋅  20 ⋅ ) 0.460226744− sin ) 0.460226744 ) ) dH → 0.1408975856346407028

⌠ 4 
 π ) ⋅ cos) 2⋅ 0.016665124 = 0.141
⌡  1.4 −
.14H  
 ⋅  ⋅ ) 0.768469142− sin ) 0.768469142 
) ) dH → 0.62900883954153347651
.04 20
6   ) ⋅ cos ) 2⋅ 0.033320996 = 0.629
  .14H   π 
⌡
3

8 5
⌠⌠ 
  1.4
 1.4
−−  ⋅ 20
.04.04
⋅  ⋅ ) 0.402613328
20
⋅ ) 0.634315275
− sin ) 0.634315275 ) ⋅ cos 2⋅ 0.024994794
) 2⋅)0.014284743
 H → 0.36093894903972636611
) ) )d)Hd→ == 0.361

 
     π
− sin ) 0.402613328) ⋅ cos

0.0949271368413852133360.095
⌡⌡ 
.14H
.14H  π 
7 4

6
⌠
  1.4 − .04  ⋅  20 ⋅ ) 0.534998393− sin ) 0.534998393) ⋅ cos) 2⋅ 0.019997334) ) dH → 0.21938693099589765693
   = 0.219

⌡  .14H   π 
5

………… /{[
20 | P a g e
 Exhibit 2

Overturning

Active
force 175.3 4.5 179.8
surchar
soil ge total

Resisting Moment

W1 1726.4 kn
x1 6.5 m
11221.
W1x1 6 kn-m
11269.
MR 6 kn-m

Overturning
Moment

z' 2.67 m
480.06
Mo 6
Figure j Calculation for Overturning
23.475
FOS 11 > 3

2) The check for sliding can be done by using

………… /{

Sliding
Numerat 639.27
or 69
3.56 >
FOS 3

Where k ≈ 2/3

21 | P a g e
 3) Check for ultimate bearing Capacity can be done by

The vertical stress at z = H is

So the factor of safety against bearing capacity failure is

Ultimate Bearing
Capacity
qu = 3805.2
Vertical stress at
8 m = 142.5
FOS = 26.7 > 5

Generally, minimum values of 3, 3, and = 3 to 5 are recommended.

APPENDIX A

Review of Shear Strength

Sources of stresses in the ground

Geostatic stresses
τσxz
xσ
zx γz Geostatic stresses are those that occur due to the
z= weight of the soil above the point being evaluated.
They are caused by gravity acting on soil or rock
so the direct result is the vertical normal stress σz.
This vertical normal stress indirectly produces
horizontal normal stresses and shear stresses.

22 | P a g e
Exhibit 3: Three dimensional soil element (left), 2D soil element (middle), Induced
horizontal stress in an unconfined soil element (right)

Horizontal stresses are either direct (e.g. braking forces from wheels of large
truck) or induced (see figure (right)). Unlike the figure, real soils in the field
are not unconfined and the adjacent elements of soil or rock also wish to
expand but in opposite direction. These opposing forces may cancel each
other (i.e. there may be no horizontal strain) or the horizontal strain may be
much less than would occur in an unconfined sample. Either way, the result
will be the formation of horizontal stresses in the ground. If ground surface is
horizontal, the geostatic shear stresses on horizontal and vertical planes are
all equal to zero.

τxz = τzx = τyz = τzy = τxy = τyx (1)

Induced stresses
These are the stresses due to external loads. Equation (1) will not be true for
induced stresses.

Effective stress
The compressive stress, σ, is carried partially by the solid particles & partially
by the pore water. It is called the total stress because it is sum of the
stresses carried by these two phases in the soil.

u = γ w zw
Where

γw = unit weight of water

23 | P a g e
zw = depth from the groundwater table to the point where pressure head is to
be computed.

The particle contact forces in an element of soil that is initially above the
groundwater table will decrease if the groundwater rises above that element.
This is because of the buoyancy force of water.

Vertical effective stress = σz = (σz) geostatic + (σz) induced - u

Horizontal effective stress = σx’ = σx – u

σy’ = σy – u

Coefficient of lateral earth pressure

The ratio of horizontal to vertical effective stresses is defined as the
coefficient of lateral earth pressure, K.

Mohr’s circle
It is used for computation of stresses acting on planes other than horizontal
and vertical planes. It describes the 2D stresses at a point in a material. Each
point on the circle represents the normal & shear stresses acting on one side
of an element oriented at a certain angle.

For example, in this mohr’s circle, points A & B represent (σz, τzx) and (σx, τ
xz),
which are the stresses acting on an element aligned with the x and z
axes, while points C & D represent the stresses on an element oriented as
shown.

Principal stresses
If the soil element is rotated to a certain angle, shear stresses will be zero on
all four sides. The planes on each side of this element are represented by
points E & F and are known as principal planes. Stresses acting along these
planes are known as principle stresses.

24 | P a g e
σ 1 = major principal stress (greatest normal stress acting on any plane)

σ 3 = minor principal stress (smallest normal stress acting on any plane)

these two stresses act on right angle to each other. As told earlier, when the
ground surface is level, the geostatic shear stresses on vertical & shear
planes ar all zero. Therefore, these are the principal planes and the geostatic
principal stresses act vertically and horizontally.

If σx > σz then σ3 = σz and σ1 = σx

If σz > σx then σ3 = σx and σ1 = σz
Mohr’s circle for effective stress
principle of effective stress applies only to normal stresses, not to shear
stresses because the pore water can’t carry a static shear stress.

Shear failure in soils

In soil, shear failure occurs when the shear stresses b/w the particles are
such that they slide or roll pass each other. The shear stress primarily
depends upon interactions b/w the particles, not on their internal strength.

Shear strength = frictional strength + cohesive strength

Frictional strength
The force that resists sliding is equal to the normal force multiplied by the
coefficient of friction, µ. For soils, ф’ is used i.e.

ф’ = tan-1 µ

Frictional shear strength = effective stress acting on shear plane tan ф

The value of ф depends on both the frictional properties of the individual

particles and interlocking b/w particles. It also depends upon mineralogy,
shape gradation, void ratio & organic material in soil. Pore water pressure
reduces the frictional shear strength.

Cohesive strength
Cohesion may be true or apparent. True cohesion is cementation and
electrostatic forces. Apparent cohesion is negative pore water pressures, etc.

25 | P a g e
 APPENDIX B

Rankin’s theory for Active Earth

Pressures
Active Earth Pressure
Assumption
 Frictionless wall

 Before the wall moves the stress condition is given by circle “a”
 State of Plastic equilibrium represented by circle “b”. This is the
“Rankine’s active state”
 Rankine’s active earth pressure is given by

26 | P a g e
 ∆L
A' A

σo' z

σ '
a

B' B

27 | P a g e
  With geometrical manipulations we get:

1 −sin φ′ cosφ′
σ 'a = σ 'o −2c'
1 +sin φ′ 1 +sin φ′

( )
σ 'a = γz tan 2 45 − φ2′ −2c' tan 45 − φ2′ ( )
 For cohesionless soil, c’=0

φ'
σ =σ tan ) 45 −
'
a
'
0
2
)
2
Rankine’s Active Pressure Coefficient, Ka
 The Rankine’s active pressure coefficient is given
by:
σ a'
K a = ' = tan 2 45 − φ2′
σo
( )
 The angle between the failure planes /slip planes
and major principal plane (horizontal) is:

(
± 45 + φ2′ )

σ a' The variation of

28 | P a g e
 With depth:

The slip planes:

Lateral Earth Pressure Distribution

against Retaining Walls

There are three different cases considered:

Horizontal backfill

Cohesionless soil

Partially submerged cohesionless soil with surcharge

Cohesive soil

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 Sloping backfill

Cohesionless soil

Cohesive soil

Walls with Friction

Active Case

Horizontal backfill with Cohesionless soil

σ a = K aγz

1
Pa = K aγH 2
2

Horizontal
backfill with Cohesionless, partially submerged soil

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 σ a' = K a [q + γH 1+γ ' ) z − H1 )]

Horizontal backfill with

cohesive soil

The

depth at which the active pressure becomes equal to zero (depth of tension
crack) is

2c '
z0 =
γ Ka

For the undrained condition, φ = 0, then Ka becomes 1 (tan245° = 1) and

c=cu. Therefore,

2cu
z0 =
γ

Tensile crack is taken into account when finding the total active force. i.e.,
consider only the pressure distribution below the crack

Active total pressure force will be

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 1 2c ' 2
Pa = K aγH − 2 K a c H +
2 '

2 γ

Active total pressure force when φ = 0

1 2 2cu2
Pa = γH − 2cu H +
2 γ

Sloping backfill cohesionless soil

Earth pressure acts an angle of α to the horizontal

σ a' = K aγz
1
Pa = K aγH 2
2

This force acts H/3 from bottom

and inclines α to the horizontal
cosα − cos α − cos2 φ ′
2
K a = cosα ⋅
cosα + cos2 α − cos2 φ ′

Sloping backfill cohesive soil

σ a' = γzK a = γzK a" cosα K a" =

Ka
Depth to the tensile crack is given by cosα

2c' 1 + sin φ '

z0 =
γ 1 − sin φ '

Friction walls
Rough retaining walls with granular backfill. Angle of friction between the
wall and the backfill is δ'

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 Case 1: Positive wall friction in the active case (+δ´)

Wall AB A’B causes a downward motion of soil relative to wall.

Causes downward shear on the wall (fig. b)

Pa will be inclined δ’ to the normal drawn to the back face of the retaining
wall

Failure surface is BCD (advanced studies): BC curve & CD straight

Rankine’s active state exists in the zone ACD

Case 2: Negative wall friction in the active case (-δ’)

- Wall is forced to a downward motion relative to the backfill

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