Active Earth Pressure - The Coulomb Theory

Active earth pressure is given by the following formula:

where: σz - vertical geostatic stress

cef - effective cohesion of soil

Ka - coefficient of active earth pressure

Kac - coefficient of active earth pressure due to cohesion

The coefficient of active earth pressure Ka is given by:

The coefficient of active earth pressure Kac is given by:

for:

for:

where: φ - angle of internal friction of soil

δ - angle of friction between structure and soil

β - slope inclination

α - back face inclination of the structure

Horizontal and vertical components of the active earth pressure become:

where: σa - active earth pressure

δ - angle of friction between structure and soil

α - back face inclination of the structure

Passive Earth Pressure - The Coulomb Theory
Passive earth pressure follows from the following formula:

where: σz - effective vertical geostatic stress

Kp - coefficient of passive earth pressure due to Coulomb

c - cohesion of soil

The coefficient of passive earth pressure Kp is given by:

where: φ - angle of internal friction of soil

δ - angle of friction between structure and soil

β - slope inclination

α - back face inclination of the structure

The vertical σpv and horizontal σph components of passive earth pressure are given by:

where: δ - angle of friction between structure and soil

α - back face inclination of the structure