NPTEL - ADVANCED FOUNDATION ENGINEERING-1

Module 6
(Lecture 23)
LATERAL EARTH PRESSURE

Topics
1.1 PASSIVE PRESSURE
1.2 RANKINE PASSIVE EARTH PRESSURE
1.3 RANKINE PASSIVE EARTH PRESSURE-INCLINED
BACKFILL
1.4 COULOMBS PASSIVE EARTH PRESSURE
1.5 COMMENTS ON THE FAILURE SURFACE ASSUMPTION
FOR COULOMBS PRESSURE CALCULATIONS

PASSIVE PRESSURE

RANKINE PASSIVE EARTH PRESSURE

Figure 6.25a shows a vertical frictionless retaining wall with a horizontal backfill. At depth z,
the vertical pressure on a soil element is = . Initially, if the wall does not yield at all, the
lateral stress at that depth will be = . This state of stress is illustrated by the Mohrs
circle in figure 6.25b. Now, if the wall is pushed into the soil mass by an amount , as shown
in figure 6.25a, the vertical stress at depth z will stay the same; however, the horizontal stress
will increase. Thus will be greater than . The state of stress can now be represented by
the Mohrs circle b in figure 6.25b. If the wall moves farther inward (that is, is increased still
more), the stresses at depth z will ultimately reach the state represented by Mohrs circle c
(figure 6.25b). Note that this Mohrs circle touches the Mohr-Coulomb failure envelope, which
implies that the soil behind the wall will fail by being pushed upward. The horizontal stress, ,
at this point is referred to as the Rankine passive pressure, or = .

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Figure 6.25 Rankine passive pressure

For Mohrs circle c in figure 6.25b, the major principal stress is , and the minor principal
stress is . Substituting them into equation (84 from chapter 1) yields

= tan2 45 + 2 + 2 tan 45 + 2

[6.55]

Now, let

= Rankine passive earth pressure coefficient

tan2 45 + 2

[6.56]

= + 2

[6.57]

(See table 9). Hence, from equation (55),

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Table 9 Variation of Rankine
Soil friction angle,
(deg)

= tan2 (45 + /2)

20

2.040

21

2.117

22

2.198

23

2.283

24

2.371

25

2.464

26

2.561

27

2.663

28

2.770

29

2.882

30

3.000

31

3.124

32

3.255

33

3.392

34

3.537

35

3.690

36

3.852

37

4.023

38

4.204

39

4.395

40

4.599

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41

4.815

42

5.045

43

5.289

44

5.550

45

5.828

Equation (57) produces figure 6.25c, the passive pressure diagram for the wall shown in figure
6. 25a. Note that at = 0,
= 0

and = 2

and at = ,
=

and

= + 2

The passive force per unit length of the wall can be determined from the area of the pressure
diagram, or
= 12 2 + 2

[6.58]

The approximate magnitudes of the wall movements, , required to develop failure under
passive conditions are
Soil type
Dense sand

Wall movement for passive

condition,

Loose sand

0.01H

Stiff clay

0.01H

Soft clay

0.05H

0.005H

Example 10
A 3-m high wall is shown in figure 6.26a. Determine the Rankine passive force per unit length
of the wall.

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Figure 6.26
Solution
For the top layer
(1) = tan2 45 +

(2) = tan2 45 +

= tan2 (45 + 15) = 3

From the bottom soil layer

2

= + 2

= tan2 (45 + 13) = 2.56

Where

= effective vertical stress

at = 0, = 0, 1 = 0, = 0

at = 2 m, = (15.72)(2) = 31.44 kN/m2 , c1 = 0

So, for the top soil layer

= 31.44(1) + 2(0)(1) = 31.44(3) = 94.32 kN/m2

At this depth, that is, = 2m, for the bottom soil layer

= (2) + 2 (2) = 31.44(2.56) + 2(10)2.56 = 80.49 + 32 = 112.49 kN/m2

Again,
at
40.49 kN/m2

= 3 m, = (15.72)(2) + (sat )(1) = 31.44 + (18.86 9.81)(1) =

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Hence
= (2) + 2 (2) = 40.49(2.56) + (2)(10)(1.6) = 135.65 kN/m2

Note that, because a water table is present, the hydrostatic stress, u, also has to be taken into
consideration. For = 0, to 2 m, = 0; = 3 m, = (1)( ) = 9.81 kN/m2 .
The passive pressure diagram is plotted in figure 6.26b. The passive force per unit length of the
wall can be determined from the area of the pressure diagram as follows:
Area no.

Area
= 94.32

2 (2)(94.32)

2
1

(112.49)(1)

= 112.49

= 11.58

2 (1)(135.65 112.49)

2 (9.81)(1)

223.3 kN/m

4.905

RANKINE PASSIVE EARTH PRESSURE-INCLINED BACKFILL

For a frictionless vertical retaining wall (figure 6.10) with a granular backfill ( = 0), the
Rankine passive pressure at any depth can be determined in a manner similar to that done in the
case of active pressure, or
=

[6.59]

= 12 2

[6.60]

and the passive force

Where

= cos

cos +cos 2 cos 2

cos cos 2 cos 2

[6.61]

As in the case of the active force, the resultant force, , is inclined at an angle with the
horizontal and intersects the wall at a distance of /3 from the bottom of the wall. The values of
(passive earth pressure coefficient) for various values of and are given in table 10.
If the backfill of the frictionless vertical retaining wall is a soil (figure 6.10), then

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= = cos

[6.62]

Where
=

cos 2

2 cos 2 + 2 cos sin

1
2

+4 cos 2 (cos 2 cos 2 ) + 4 cos 2 + 8 cos 2 sin cos

[6.63]

Table 10 Passive Earth Pressure Coefficient, [equation (61)

(deg)

(deg)

28

30

32

34

36

38

40

2.770

3.000

3.255

3.537

3.852

4.204

4.599

2.715

2.943

3.196

3.476

3.788

4.136

4.527

10

2.551

2.775

3.022

3.295

3.598

3.937

4.316

15

2.284

2.502

2.740

3.003

3.293

3.615

3.977

20

1.918

2.132

2.362

2.612

2.886

3.189

3.526

25

1.434

1.664

1.984

2.135

2.394

2.676

2.987

Table 11 Values of
(deg)
15

20

(deg)

0.025

0.050

0.100

0.500

1.764

1.829

1.959

3.002

1.716

1.783

1.917

2.971

10

1.564

1.641

1.788

2.880

15

1.251

1.370

1.561

2.732

2.111

2.182

2.325

3.468

2.067

2.140

2.285

3.435

10

1.932

2.010

2.162

3.339

15

1.696

1.786

1.956

3.183

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25

30

2.542

2.621

2.778

4.034

2.499

2.578

2.737

3.999

10

2.368

2.450

2.614

3.895

15

2.147

2.236

2.409

3.726

3.087

3.173

3.346

4.732

3.042

3.129

3.303

4.674

10

2.907

2.996

3.174

4.579

15

2.684

2.777

2.961

4.394

The variation of with , , / is given in table 11 (Mazindrani and Ganjali, 1997).

COULOMBS PASSIVE EARTH PRESSURE

Coulomb (1776) also represent an analysis for determining the passive earth pressure (that is,
when the wall moves into the soil mass) for walls possessing friction
( = angle of wall friction) and retaining a granular backfill material similar.
To understand the determination of Coulombs passive force, , consider the wall shown in
figure 6.27a. As in the case of active pressure, Coulomb assumed that the potential failure
surface in soil is a plane. For a trial failure wedge of soil, such as 1 , the forces per unit length
of the wall acting on the wedge

Figure 6.27 Coulombs passive pressure

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1. The weight of the wedge, W

2. The resultant, R, of the normal and shear forces on the plane 1
3. The passive force,

Figure 6.27 shows the force triangle at equilibrium for the trial wedge 1 . From this force
triangle, the value of can be determined because the direction of all three forces and the
magnitude of one force are known.
Similar force triangles for several trial wedges, such as 1 , 2 , 3 , can be constructed,
and the corresponding values of can be determined. The top part of figure 6.27a shows the
nature of the variation of the values for different wedges. The minimum value of in this
diagram is Coulombs passive force. Mathematically, this can be expressed as
= 12 2

[6.64]

Table 12 Values of [equation (65)] for = =

(deg)

15

1.698

20

(deg)

10

15

20

1.900

2.130

2.405

2.735

2.040

2.313

2.636

3.030

3.525

25

2.464

2.830

3.286

3.855

4.597

30

3.000

3.506

4.143

4.977

6.105

35

3.690

4.390

5.310

6.854

8.324

40

4.600

5.590

6.946

8.870

11.772

Where
= Coulomb spassive pressure coefficient
=

sin 2

sin 2 ( )

2
sin ( +)sin
( )
sin
(+)1 (

sin +)sin
( + )

[6.65]

The values of the passive pressure coefficient, , for various values of and are given in
table 12 ( = 90 and = 0 ).

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Note that the resultant passive force, , will act at a distance of /3 from the bottom of the wall
and will be inclined at an angle to the normal drawn to the back face of the wall.

COMMENTS ON THE FAILURE SURFACE ASSUMPTION FOR COULOMBS

PRESSURE CALCULATIONS
Coulombs pressure calculation methods for active and passive pressure. The fundamental
assumption for these analyses is the acceptance of plane failure surfaces. However, for walls
with friction, this assumption does not hold in practice. The nature of actual failure surfaces in
the soil mass for active and passive pressure is shown in figure 6.28a and b, respectively (for a
vertical wall with a horizontal backfill). Note that the failure surfaces BC are curved and that the
failure surfaces CD are planes.

Figure 6. 6.28 Nature of failure surface in soil with wall friction for (a0 active pressure case and
(b) passive pressure case
Although the actual failure surface in soil for the case of active pressure is somewhat different
from that assumed in the calculation of the Coulomb pressure, the results are not greatly
different. However, in the cases of passive pressure, as the value of increases, Coulombs
method of calculation gives increasingly erroneous values of . This factor of error could lead
to an unsafe condition because the values of would become higher than the soil resistance.
Caquot and Kerisel (1948) developed a chart (figure 6.29) for estimating the value of the passive
pressure coefficient ( ) with curved failure surface in granular soil ( = 0), such as that shown
in figure 6.28. In their solution, the portion BC of the failure surface was assumed to be an arc of
a logarithmic spiral. While using figure 6.29, the following points should be kept in mind:

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Figure 6.29 Caquot and Kerisels passive pressure coefficient, , for granular soil

1. The curves are for = .

2. If / is less than one, then
() = (=)
Where

= reduction factor

The reduction factor R is given in table 13.

3. The passive pressure is
= 12 2 ()

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Table 13 Reduction factor, R, for use in conjunction with figure 6. 29
/
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
(deg)
0.978
0.962
0.946
0.929
0.912
0.898
0.880
10
0.961
0.934
0.907
0.881
0.854
0.830
0.803
15
0.939
0.901
0.862
0.824
0.787
0.752
0.716
20
0.912
0.860
0.808
0.759
0.711
0.666
0.620
25
0.878
0.811
0.746
0.686
0.627
0.574
0.520
30
0.836
0.752
0.674
0.603
0.536
0.475
0.417
35
0.783
0.682
0.592
0.512
0.439
0.375
0.316
40
0.718
0.600
0.500
0.414
0.339
0.276
0.221
45

0.0
0.864
0.775
0.678
0.574
0.467
0.362
0.262
0.174