Lateral Earth Pressures

Duration: 18 min

N. Sivakugan

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Copyright2001

Contents
Geotechnical applications K0, active & passive states Rankines earth pressure theory

A 2-minute break
Design of retaining walls A Mini Quiz
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Lateral Support
In geotechnical engineering, it is often necessary to prevent lateral soil movements.

Tie rod Anchor

Sheet pile

Cantilever retaining wall

Braced excavation

Anchored sheet pile

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Lateral Support
We have to estimate the lateral soil pressures acting on these structures, to be able to design them.

Gravity Retaining wall

Soil nailing

Reinforced earth wall

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Soil Nailing

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Sheet Pile

Sheet piles marked for driving

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Sheet Pile

Sheet pile wall

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Sheet Pile

During installation

Sheet pile wall

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Lateral Support
Reinforced earth walls are increasingly becoming popular.
geosynthetics

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Lateral Support
Crib walls have been used in Queensland.
Good drainage & allow plant growth. Looks good.
Interlocking stretchers and headers filled with soil

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Earth Pressure at Rest

In a homogeneous natural soil deposit,
GL

Wv Wh X

the ratio Wh /Wv is a constant known as coefficient of earth pressure at rest (K0). Importantly, at K0 state, there are no lateral strains.
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Estimating K0
For normally consolidated clays and granular soils, K0 = 1 sin J For overconsolidated clays, K0,overconsolidated = K0,normally consolidated OCR0.5 From elastic analysis,

Y K0 ! 1 Y

Poissons ratio
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Active/Passive Earth Pressures

- in granular soils Wall moves away from soil Wall moves towards soil
B
smooth wall

Lets look at the soil elements A and B during the wall movement.

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Active Earth Pressure

- in granular soils Wv = Kz Wv z Wh A Initially, there is no lateral movement. @Wh = K0 Wv = K0 Kz As the wall moves away from the soil, Wv remains the same; and Wh decreases till failure occurs. Active state
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Active Earth Pressure

- in granular soils As the wall moves away from the soil, X

Initially (K0 state) Failure (Active state)

Wv
active earth pressure

decreasing Wh
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Active Earth Pressure

- in granular soils X

WJM Rankine (1820-1872)

J [Wh ]active Wv W

[W h ' ]active ! K AW v '

KA ! 1  sin J ! tan 2 ( 45  J / 2) 1  sin J
Rankines coefficient of active earth pressure
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Active Earth Pressure

- in granular soils X
Failure plane is at 45 + J/2 to horizontal
45 + N/2

Wv Wh A

J [Wh ]active

90+N

Wv

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Active Earth Pressure

- in granular soils As the wall moves away from the soil, Wh decreases till failure occurs. Wh Wv z Wh A
K0 state Active state

wall movement

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Active Earth Pressure

- in cohesive soils Follow the same steps as for granular soils. Only difference is that c { 0.

[W h ' ]active ! K AW v '2c K A

Everything else the same as for granular soils.
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Passive Earth Pressure

- in granular soils Initially, soil is in K0 state. As the wall moves towards the soil, Wv Wh B Passive state Wv remains the same, and Wh increases till failure occurs.

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Passive Earth Pressure

- in granular soils As the wall moves towards the soil, X
Initially (K0 state) Failure (Active state)

passive earth pressure

Wv increasing Wh

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Passive Earth Pressure

- in granular soils X

J Wv [Wh ]passive W

[W h ' ] passive ! K PW v '

KP ! 1  sin J ! tan 2 ( 45  J / 2) 1  sin J
Rankines coefficient of passive earth pressure
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Passive Earth Pressure

- in granular soils X
Failure plane is at 45 - J/2 to horizontal
45 - N/2

Wv Wh A

J Wv

90+N

[Wh ]passive

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Passive Earth Pressure

- in granular soils As the wall moves towards the soil, Wh increases till failure occurs. Wh Wv Wh B
K0 state
wall movement

Passive state

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Passive Earth Pressure

- in cohesive soils Follow the same steps as for granular soils. Only difference is that c { 0.

[W h ' ] passive ! K PW v '2c K P

Everything else the same as for granular soils.
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Earth Pressure Distribution

[Wh ]active
PA and PP are the resultant active and passive thrusts on the wall

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- in granular soils

[Wh ]passive
PA=0.5 KAKH2
h

PP=0.5 KPKh2

KPKh

KAKH

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Wh
Passive state Active state K0 state
Wall movement (not to scale)

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Rankines Earth Pressure Theory

[W h ' ]active ! K AW v '2c K A

[W h ' ] passive ! K PW v '2c K P

Assumes smooth wall Applicable only on vertical walls

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Retaining Walls - Applications

Road Train

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Retaining Walls - Applications

highway

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Retaining Walls - Applications

High-rise building

basement wall

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Gravity Retaining Walls

cement mortar cobbles

plain concrete or stone masonry

They rely on their self weight to support the backfill

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Cantilever Retaining Walls

Reinforced; smaller section than gravity walls

They act like vertical cantilever, fixed to the ground

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Design of Retaining Wall

- in granular soils

Block no.
3 1 1 3

toe toe W i = weight of block i

Analyse the stability of this rigid body with xi = horizontal distance of centroid of block i from toe vertical walls (@Rankine theory valid)

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Safety against sliding along the base

Fsliding !
to be greater than 1.5

PP  {Wi }. tan H PA

soil-concrete friction angle } 0.5 0.7 J

PA
3 1 3 1

H PA

PP toe y

S R

h PP S toe y R

PP= 0.5 KPKh2

PA= 0.5 KAKH2

Safety against overturning about toe

Foverturning !
to be greater than 2.0

PP h / 3  {Wi xi } PA H/3

PA
3 1 3 1

H PA

PP toe y

S R

h PP S toe y R

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Points to Ponder
How does the key help in improving the stability against sliding?

Shouldnt we design retaining walls to resist at-rest (than active) earth pressures since the thrust on the wall is greater in K0 state (K0 > KA)?

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