Earth Retaining Structures
Earth retaining structures are common in a man-
Lateral Earth Pressure Theories of
Rankine and Coulomb
Lecture No. 15
November 12, 2002
Definition of Key Terms
Active earth pressure coefficient (Ka): It is the
ratio of horizontal and vertical principal effective
stresses when a retaining wall moves away (by a
small amount) from the retained soil.
Passive earth pressure coefficient (Kp): It is
the ratio of horizontal and vertical principal
effective stresses when a retaining wall is forced
against a soil mass.
Coefficient of earth pressure at rest (K0): It is
the ratio of horizontal and vertical principal
effective stresses when the retaining wall does not
move at all, i.e. it is at rest.
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made environment.
These structures were amongst the first to be
analyzed using the concepts of mechanics.
One of the most popular earth retaining structure is
a retaining wall.
In this lecture, well learn the theory of earth
pressure that is used to analyze the stability of
retaining walls.
It will help you a great deal if you revised the
following important concepts:
Static equilibrium, Effective Stress, Mohrs Stress Circle
and Shear Strength of Soils
Lateral Earth Pressure Basic Concepts
We will consider the lateral pressure on a vertical
wall that retains soil on one side.
First, we will consider a drained case, i.e. the
shear strength of the soil is governed by its angle
of friction .
In addition, we will make the following
assumptions:
The interface between the wall and the soil is frictionless.
The soil surface is horizontal and there are no shear
stresses on horizontal and vertical planes, i.e. the
horizontal and vertical stresses are principal stresses.
The wall is rigid and extends to an infinite depth in a
dry, homogenous, isotropic soil mass.
The soil is loose and initially in an at-rest state.
 Basic Concepts (Continued..) Active Failure
Consider the wall shown in the
If the wall is moved away
figure on the top right. If no
movement of the wall takes from element A and
place, the soil is at rest and the towards element B, the
vertical and horizontal effective effective horizontal stress in
stresses acting on elements A
and B are:
element A will reduce but
the effective vertical stress
z = 1 = z will remain constant.

x = 3 = K 0 1 = K 0 z Therefore, the Mohrs circle
will expand as shown in the
K0 Coefficient of Earth
figure at the bottom right.
Pressure at rest x z z
Mohrs circle for the at-rest When the Mohrs circle
stress state is shown in the touches the failure surface, xf
figure on the bottom right. element A will undergo
Since the soil is not at failure, the Mohrs circle stays within active failure.
the failure surface boundaries. 5 6

Active Earth Pressure Coefficient (Ka) Passive Failure

Considering triangle OFC in
the figure on the right:
Since the
wall is
Mohrs circle at Passive Failure

( zf xf ) 2
moved
sin = ( zf xf ) ( zf + xf ) towards B,
F
Rearranging the above its effective
equation, we can obtain an horizontal
O C
expression for the active zf stress will
earth pressure coefficient increase but x xf
xf
(Ka) as: the effective zf
vertical
( zf + xf ) 2 stress will
xf 1 - sin
= = Ka remain
zf 1 + sin constant.
Hence, the Mohrs circle will first contract and then
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expand as shown in the figure. 8
 Passive Earth Pressure Coefficient (Kp) Slip Planes for Active and Passive Failure
Element B
Considering triangle OFC in the Element A p = 45
figure on the right: 2
F
sin = ( xf zf ) ( zf + xf ) [w.r.t. horizontal]

The above
equation
( xf zf ) 2 (90 + )
(90 )
can be p
rearranged O C xf
O
to obtain an
expression
x zf zf
for the Pole for
passive
a Pole for
earth
( zf + xf ) 2 active passive
failure failure
pressure
coefficient xf 1 + sin 1
(Kp) as:
= = Kp = a = 45 + [w.r.t. horizontal]
zf 1 - sin Ka 9 2 10

Slip Planes (Continued..) Required Horizontal Movement

Much larger
rotation is
required to
produce slip
planes for
passive
failure as
compared
to the
active
failure as
There are always two sets of slip planes one for shown in
positive shear stress and the other for negative The soil mass at the back of the wall is
the figure
shear stress. assisting in failure while the soil mass
on the left.
in the front of the wall is resisting
11 failure. 12
 Variation of Lateral Earth Pressure with Depth Lateral Stresses due to Groundwater
If groundwater is present,
the pore water pressure
must be added to the lateral
earth pressure. z
Pw zw
DO NOT multiply the pore
water pressure with a zw/3
coefficient of earth pressure.
If the groundwater table is wzw
located at a height zw from The lateral force P
w
the bottom of the wall, the due to groundwater
Since the vertical effective stress varies linearly with depth, the
active, the lateral earth pressure also vary linearly with depth.
hydrostatic pore water is given by:
Only in case of a surcharge (figure(d)), the lateral earth pressure is given by:
2
pressure is constant with depth. Pw = 12 wz w
A vertical wall retaining saturated soil on one side must resist u = w (z z w )
both lateral earth pressure and hydrostatic pressure. 13 14

Lateral Stresses due to Surcharge Lateral Earth Pressure An Example

Surface stresses, such as a
uniform surcharge qs as
shown in the figure on the
right, also impose lateral
earth pressures on retaining
walls.
Depending on whether the
retained soil is under active,
at-rest or passive condition,
a uniform surcharge qs will The lateral force Pq
impose a uniform lateral
earth pressure of Kqs where is given by:
K is the earth pressure
coefficient.
qs Determine the active lateral qs = 50 kPa
earth pressures on the
frictionless wall shown in the
Pq figure. The retained soil sat = 20 kN/m3
z
carries a uniform surcharge of = 30
50 kPa at the surface. 5m
z/2
Calculate the resultant lateral
force per meter length on the
Kqs wall and its location from the
base of the wall. The
due to the surcharge groundwater within the
retained soil is at hydrostatic
condition. [This example will be solved during the class.]
Pq = K qs z
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 Lateral Earth Pressure Key Points
The lateral earth pressures on retaining walls are
related directly to the vertical effective stress
through the active (Ka) , at-rest (K0) and
passive (Kp) earth pressure coefficients.
Ka < K0 < Kp and Ka = 1/Kp.
Only a small movement of the wall away from the
soil is required to mobilize full active earth
pressure in the soil mass.
Substantial movement of the wall towards the
soil is required to mobilize full passive earth
pressure in the soil mass.
Rankines earth pressure coefficients are only
applicable to a frictionless, vertical, rigid wall
retaining a homogenous soil with a horizontal
ground surface.
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Coulombs Earth Pressure Theory
Coulomb (1776) proposed that a condition of limit
equilibrium exists in the soil mass retained behind
a vertical wall and that the retained soil mass will
slip along a plane inclined at an angle to the
horizontal.
The critical slip plane is the one which gives the
maximum lateral pressure on the wall.
Limit equilibrium describes the state of a soil
mass that is on the verge of failure, i.e. the
applied stresses are equal to the available
strength along the slip plane.
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Coulombs Theory (Continued..) Coulombs Theory (Continued..)

Let us consider a vertical, Consider the force

frictionless wall of height equilibrium of the soil
H, supporting a dry, wedge in the x- and z-
homogenous soil mass directions:
with an angle of internal F x = Pa + Tcos Nsin = 0
friction , as shown in the
figure on the top right. F z = W Tsin Ncos = 0

The forces acting on the where T = N.tan and W =

N.tan cot
H02cot
soil wedge above the slip Solving for Pa, we get: Pa = 12 H20cot tan( )
plane are shown in the Differentiating the above expression w.r.t. and
figure on the bottom equating the derivative to zero, we can obtain
right. critical value of that gives maximum Pa:
For a dry soil, = .

= cr = 45o + Pa = 12 H20tan2 45o - = 12 K a H20
19 2 2 20
 Coulombs Theory (Continued..) Coulombs Theory (Continued..)

The expression for lateral force due to active earth
pressure is the same as that obtained earlier using
stress equilibrium considerations (Mohrs circle).
The solution obtained using a limit equilibrium
analysis always results in a failure load that is
greater than the true failure load. This solution
is called an upper bound or an unsafe solution.
The main reason for this is that the soil will always
be able to choose a failure mechanism that is more
efficient than the assumed failure mechanism
(shape and location of slip plane).
The accuracy of a limit equilibrium analysis
depends on how realistic the chosen mechanism is.
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On the other hand, an analysis from the
consideration of static equilibrium of stresses
usually results in a failure load smaller than the
true failure load. Such a solution is called a
lower bound or safe solution.
For the fortuitous case when both these analyses
give the same solution, we have a true solution.
In general, Coulombs earth pressure theory gives
an upper bound estimate and Rankines theory
gives a lower bound estimate of lateral earth
pressure.
For a vertical, frictionless, rigid wall retaining a
horizontal homogenous soil mass, both these
theories give the same solution.
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Rough Wall and Sloping Backfill Rough Wall and Sloping Backfill (Continued..)

Poncelet (1840) used Following expressions for active and passive earth
Coulombs limit equilibrium pressure coefficients were obtained by Poncelet:
approach to obtain the
active and passive earth cos2 ( )
K aC =
pressure coefficients for 2
sin( + )sin( )
cases where cos2cos( + )1 +
wall friction is present cos( + )cos( )
wall face inclined at an angle
to the vertical, and cos2 ( + )
KpC =
the backfill is sloping at an 2
sin( + )sin( + )
angle to the horizontal cos cos( )1 +
2

cos( )cos( )
Following Coulombs approach, Poncelet also used a
linear slip plane inclined at an angle with respect Unlike the Rankine earth pressure coefficients, KaC
to the horizontal. is not equal to 1/KpC.

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 Rough Wall and Sloping Backfill (Continued..) Error due to Curvature of Slip Plane
The critical inclination of the slip plane w.r.t. the The curvature of the slip
horizontal is given by: surface for the active state is
small in comparison with that Pa
1 sin cos
= tan
1
tan for the passive state as shown
cos sin( + )
in the figure.
In the above expression, positive sign refers to the For the active condition, the
active condition (a) and the negative sign refers to error is negligibly small. Active Condition
the passive condition (p). However, the value of the
Please note that the presence of wall friction passive earth pressure
results in a curved slip plane for both the active coefficient is overestimated.
and the passive condition and therefore, Poncelets Pp
For the passive condition, the
coefficients are not 100% accurate. error is small only if </3. In
practice, however, is
Passive Condition
generally greater than /3.
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