This may be illustrated by application of

the Rankine equations to a vertical

retaining wall supporting a cohesive soil
with a surcharge acting on the backfill.
As the wall rotates away from the soil,
a gap or tension crack forms between
the wall and the soil. The soil stands
without support to the depth of the
crack.

In undrained conditions, a tension crack

may develop at the top of the slope and
hence no shear strength can occur over
that length.
Consider a slip circle,
water in the crack will supply an
additional hydrostatic force, acting to
reduce the factor of safety. This can be
incorporated into the analysis by treating
it as an additional disturbing moment,
= Fwzw.

WHERE,
W = vertical load of the slipping mass
= angle subtended by the slip circle
C= cohesion in terms of total stress
R = radius of the slip circle
hc= depth of tension crack

= unit weight of soil

Fw= resultant force for water pressure

in tension crack acting at /3depth of
water

zw= moment arm of resultant force Fw

x = moment arm of the slipping mass

Consider the vertical cut of height H.

Assume that the soil is undrained and
the strength can be represented by:t=
C.

H = (4C/) - h
If there is no tension crack, i.e. h = 0,
then,
H = (4C/)
The theoretical value of h is(2C/)
and then H =(2C/)
= unit weight of soil
C= undrained strength of soil

THANK U.............................