Department of Civil Engineering

Geotechnical Engineering 3

Lateral Earth Pressure

Lecture note

Image courtesy: http://www.slideshare.net/abhay9911/lateral-stability

September 2016

1
 Lateral Earth Pressure

In order to design soil-retaining structures such as retaining walls and sheet pile walls, it is
necessary to determine the magnitude of the lateral pressures to which the structure is subjected.

There are three categories of earth pressure (see Figures 1 and 2):

1. wall may be restrained from moving (Figure 1 (a». The lateral earth pressure on
the wall at any depth is called the at-rest earth pressure.

2. The wall may tilt away from the soil retained (Figure 1(b». With sufficient wall tilt, a
triangular soil wedge behind the wall will fail. The lateral pressure for this condition is
to as active earth pressure.

3. The wall may be pushed into the soil retained (Figure 1 (c». With sufficient wall
movement, a soil wedge will fail. The lateral pressure for this condition is referred to as
passive earth pressure.

AS AS
---, I
--, I-+­

\
\
\
\
I s .. a
F<l.i\l)YC
we.Jjl!'

(0. ) (C)

1.

---Ics­ .
h (pa.SSwe)

(llS) ~o.c>ol Foy' loose

\ H Q. S.:>.'V\...t 10 0-04
f.<,.,.. SofT C/7

Figure 2 .

2
 2

3 shows an example of forces on gravity retaining wall.

WC.i~hT
of IN"II
WW

?o.ss i.,,~
--p
P +

,e S.'5 T."...,C-e...

3.

1. Earth Pressure at Rest

The ratio of the horizontal stress to vertical stress is called the coefficient of earth pressure at
rest, Ko, or

(.)
(1)

To analyse earth pressure at rest, consider the stress condition on an element of soil at depth Z
(see Figures 4 and 5).

1
~
z c.
¢
I 2­
P
(> 2. I) I)vH
=--1(

4. Distribution of earth pressure at rest on a wall.

3
 3

ko 'p

Po -= PI + Pz... l..
k'
Z C ::: 't K6 H:z..+ ~ !<H I<
CD 0
0
¢ p
H

-~~L~
I
(0-) 1-- 1<0 ( Cf + '(H) -f
(b)
Figure 5. Distribution of earth pressure at rest on a wall with surcharge load.

If the water table is located at depth Z < H, the at rest pressure diagram shown in Figures 4 and
5 will have to be modified (see Figures 6 and 7). .

Uh ,T w e.iJ hi"
z Co F S <>i/ -:::­ l(

. I
So.Turg..T.e,J UVliT - --
+ Wt...... hT
v
of
-
.,;;,1 ~
~Q.'T

B F
I
----~--k (k'H+k'f.l)tk' ~ - - ,
\ I

I 0 I 2. w' I

~.:: ~
;,,,r
-tw (2)
(2)
i i i
Area ALE Area CBFC Area of EFG & IlK

6.

.-------------------~ ............ --~ ....... ~~--~-~.--- ......... -~- ..- - . - - - ­

 4

TZ
~-
~I
.....
Wo,J",,... .... ':>1<­

H
I
It s,,-,
I
Hl.
C 0; I@
cp ~..........._<S'"7-=h......---L:_"""t-o.--:::::...........,~

I
, I
I k ( ' I
J.--=ifl~-t- k' f-/ ( + IS II;) -I ...
Po=A[+A2+A3+ A 4+ A S (b)

:. Po KoqHl + ~KoyH12 + Ko(q + yHl)H 2 + ~KoylI~ + 1 'KHg

Figure 7.

For evaluating the value of Ko:

For granular soils the coefficient of lateral earth pressure at rest ranges from about 0.4 for dense
sand to 0.5 for loose sand, Ko can also be determined for sands by the following empirical
relationship (Joky, 1944):

Ko =1 sin </J ( 3)(3)

For compacted backfill (Sherif, 1984):

(4)
Ko = (l-sin¢) +[~ -IJ5.5 (4)
Y,'i(min)

where % actual compacted dry unit weight of the sand behind the wall
ldCminj dry unit weight of sand in the loosest state

For normally consolidated clays, the following empirical equation can be used to estimate Ko
(Alpan, 1967):

Ko:::: 0.19 + 0.233 log (PI) (5)

(5)
where PI is the soil's plasticity index. For overconsolidated clays, values of Ko tend to be
larger than those of normally consolidated clays.

For fine grained, normally consolidated soils (Massarsch, 1979):

(b)
Ko:::: 0.44 +0.42[PI(%)] (6)
100

5
 5

For overconsolidated clays, the coefficient of earth pressure at rest:

1 (7)
Ko(oC) = KO(Ne) (OCR) 2"

preconsolidation pressure (8)

where OCR = --=-------=----~ (8)
present effective overburden pressue

2. Active Earth Pressure

The two major theories to estimate active and passive pressure value are those by Coulomb .
(1776) and Rankine (1985). Both theories are very much in use today and both are described
below for both cohesionless and cohesive soils.

(i) Rankine Active Earth Pressure

4S": .1:..
2.
A. Cohesionless soils

(a) Soil suiface horizontal

Consider Figure 8 below:

h RQ $vftlAnl
~__, -__~~~~~vST ~h4
~ = ~ ---:r­
h
:3

Figure 8.
(c) pre$,ure .J1~jr i bv T,'on
01"'1 b o..c...k W",-I!

6
 6

OC
1
OA OC AC
=---­
OC - DC = _DC _ 1- sin ¢ (9)
(}l OB OC+CB OC + DC I + DC - 1 + sin ¢
OC

It can be shown by trigonometry that

1- sin ¢ = tan 2(45 0

t2~) (10)
( ( 0)
1 + sin¢

Hence

K = 1 sin ¢ tan 2(45 0

_ <P' )
(\i)
(11)
a 1+sin¢ 2

(b) Soil sutface sloping at angle a

If the backfill of a frictionless retaining wall is a granular soil (c = 0) and rises at an angle a
with respect to the horizontal (Figure 9), the active earth pressure coefficient, Ka' may be
expressed in the form

(12)
(12)

where ¢ angle of friction soil

At any depth, z, the Rankine active pressure may be expressed as

(/3)
(13)
Also, the total force per llnit length of the wall is

(14)

Figure 9.

~-- ~~~~~~~~ -~~ ----

 7

B. Cohesive soils

(a) Soil surface horizontal

Consider two soils of the same unit weight, one acting as a purely frictional soil with an angle
of shearing resistance = ¢ and the other acting as a cohesive-frictional soil with the same angle
of shearing resistance, ¢ and a unit cohesion = c. The Mohr circle diagrams for the two soils
are shown in Figure 10.

At depth h both soils are subjected to the same major principal stress ()I = fh. The minor
principal stress for the cohesion1ess soil is (), but for the cohesive soil is only (),c' the difference
being due to the cohesive strength, c, that is represented by the lengthAB or EF.
">¢
45-­

., 4>
45-­
2

The effect of cohesion on active pressure.

!IF !IF sin(900-¢) 2

sin(45"- ¢)cos(45
2 \
0
_1:)2 (15)
(\ 5)
= = ---:'-----'-,--
GH c sin(45°+ ~) cos(45"- ~)
Or

ell:.)
(16)

Difference between (),. and (),C

.

!IF
=EF
cos(45°- ~) (17)

.--- - - - -....- ........- -- --­

 8

(18)

Hence the active pressure 0;" at depth h in a soil exhibiting both frictional and cohesive strength
and having a horizontal upper surface is given by the expression:
(19)

where K" = tan 2 (45 - t)

2

The variation of the active pressure with depth for the wall is given in Figure 11. Note that
(Tv 0 at Z 0 and (Tv yH at Z = H. The pressure distribution shows that at z 0 the active
pressure equals -2c.J"K;, indicating tensile stress. This tensile stress decreases with depth and
becomes zero at a depth z = zC' or

(20)

and

2c
7 ==-­
~c y~K{I 2C Vi<a
r- -j
<--_ _ _ .1

zc:

H
+

I
I
t-­ -I
Figure 11.

The depth Zc is usually refened to as the depth oftensile crack, because the tensile stress in the
soil will eventually cause a crack along the soil-wall interface. Thus the total Rankine active
force per unit length of the wall before the tensile crack occurs is

(21)

(22)

-~~ .. -------~--- -~-

 9

After the occurrence of the tensile crack, the force on the wall will be caused only by the
pressure distribution between depths z ::;: Zc and z = H, as shown by the hatched area in Figure
11. It may be expressed as

(23)
(2.3)

or

(24)

(b) Soil swjace sloping at angle a

Mazindrani and Ganjali (1997) formulated the expression for an inclined backfill with a c-¢ soil:

(25)
(2.5)

and the depth ot tensile crack, Zc'

Z=
c (26)

and

(26)

(ii) The Coulomb Theory

In 1776 Coulomb introduced an expression for determining the active pressure on retaining
walls. This theory takes wall friction into consideration. Coulomb assumed that the failure
surface in the soil mass would be a plane (eg. BC, BC2, ",), Consider a possible soil failure
wedge ABC (Figure 12 (a)). The corresponding force polygon is shown in Figure 12 (b), The
development of Coulomb's equation follows from this basic relationship. From Figure 12 (b),
using the Law of Sines, the equations for computing lateral earth pressure are as follows (the
steps to develop these equations are tedious and is beyond the scope of this unit):

(27)
where:

Ka = Coulomb's active earth pressure coefficient

10

r - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -_ _ _ _ _ _ _.._ _ ...._ _ ________ . ___. __

~ .~. __.___... ...
~ _~ _ _.... ~
 10

sm
=---------r--~==========~
(28)
sin 2f3 sin(f3 ­ +

where f3 angle between back side of wall and horizontal line

(5 = the angle of friction between the soil and the wall
a = angle between backfill surface lines and horizontal line
tP = angle of internal friction of the backfill soil

\N1l11 rru::>v ........ ~,... T o..wo-1

..

(b)

( 0.)
Figure 12.

Resultant active pressure acts on the wall at a point where a line through the wedge's centre of
gravity and parallel to the failure plane intersects the wall (see Figure 13). The resultant's
direction at the wall is along a line that makes an angle (5 with a line normal to the back side of
the wall, where (5 is the angle of wall friction (see Figure 13).

11

,---------------­ - - - - - - -....- - - - . -.... ~----

 11

(0) (b)

(e)

Figure 13. Procedures for location of point of application of Fa: (a) irregular backfill;
(b) concentrated or line load inside failure zone; (c) concentrated or line load outside
failure zone (but inside zone ABC)

Table 1 gives some typical value"s of angles of internal friction, angle of wall friction, and unit
weights of cornmon types of backfill soil.

Table 1.

U nit Weight r
(kg/m})
Description of soil

DijT~Moist
~~~-4~~------~~~-~~~···-·~~~~-+~~~r~~-r -~~t-

f - . - - -...

3
~7- =- "-~ ~-"=-'---~-
.... ....-----:-----:-... -.~--;--~-~'.---+-····_15-90 1- :::~
4
f-------+--c ..... ..- -.....
~ -~-----~~--_4~~ .....-4_-~ .... -+__~-~~t_-~~ .....f-~~-+- ... -~~

Medium to fine sand, some

__~_-'--cs=i:--It~(2_2%), trace fine (Travel

1560 1290
Fine sand, trace silt
C:::--::--;---1:--4·7=s:;-i--i' 290"1
Fine sand, some silt

f~~=~---+- toarsesnC~tlOeSand(45% ) -;o-+---=-:: :1~~ :~

Silt: some coarse to fine sand,
1180 .

12
 12

Coulomb's active pressure with a surchaTge on the backt111 can be calculated as (see Figure 14):

p - I K aXniH2 (29)
a -:2 (29)

(2)0)

where (30)

Figure 14.

3. Passive Earth Pressure

(i) Rankine passive earth pressure

(a) Soil swface horizontal

In this case the vertical pressure due to the weight of the soil, yh, is acting as a minor principal
stress (see Figure 15 (a». Figure 15 (b) shows the Mom circle diagram representing these
stress conditions arid drawn in the usual position, Ie. with the axis OX (the direction of the
major principal plane) horizontal. Figure 15 (c) shows the same diagram correctly orientated
with the major principal stress, K" (ft, horizontal and the major principal plane verticaL The
e
Mohr diagram, it will be seen, must be rotated through 90 •

In the Mohr diagram:

OC DC + = 1+sin¢ = tan 2(450+.P.) (31)

OC - DC 1 - sin ¢ 2

Hence 1 + sin = tan

K -_ ---'-- 2(45 +­¢)
0

(32)
p 1 sin¢ 2

13
 13

As with active pressure, there is a network of shear planes inclined at (45° - ¢12) to the direction
of the major principal stress, but this time the soil is being compressed as opposed to expanded.

From Mohr's circle:

(33)
(3 3 )

Let Kp tan { 45 + ~)
(34)
(34)

The passive pressure diagram for the wall shown in Figure 15 Cd):

Z=o (35)

Z=H (36)

The passive force per unit length:

p = ~yH2K + (37)
P 2 P

(b) Soil swface sloping at angle (X

direction of the principal stresses are not known, but we assume that the passive pressure
acts parallel to the surface of the slope at a distance of H3 from the bottom of the wall. The
analysis gives:

the active pressure, (J'p = YZKp (38)

the .passive force, PP _~yH2

2
KP (39)

cOS(X +
where K = cos
p
(X----';======
cOs(X
(40)

If the backfill of the wall is a C and ¢ soil:

(41)

14
 14

(c )

Figure 15.

15
 15

where

K'? = 1 { 2 cos -a + 2 -c cos cp"sm 'I'rh +

--7-,
7

I cos-cp y,Z

4cos ',,(cos '" - cos '¢) + 4(~)'cos '¢ + 8( ~)cos '"sin ¢cos¢} 1 (42)
(if>')
(ii) Coulomb's passive earth pressure
Passive earth pressure is derived similarly to active pressure except that the inclination at the

wall and the force triangle will be shown as in Figure 16.

/
/
/

Figure 16.

Coulomb's passive force can be expressed mathematically as:

((43)
43)
where

K,? = Coulomb's passive pressure coefficient

sin 2(/3 - ¢)
•
sm [I
=-----;=----;::========,-;;­
-/3 sm(/3 + 0) 1 _I.sine ¢ + sine
ry. 0)
. ¢ + .......
Vsm(m + o)sm(/3 + a)
(X5]2 (44)

16

.
.--------------------------­ -
...•..--~-..•.•. ------­
.. ~.-..--.~--.--.--.---------......
 16

Culmann's graphic methods

For concentrated surcharge loads such as may be induced by a continuous footing, railroad
tracks, and the like, running parallel to the wall, it is possible, although rather laborious, to
estimate the increased stresses on the wall based on Boussinesqi's equation, consistent with the
theory of elasticity for semi-infinite homogeneous soil mass. However, graphical methods are
more expedient for this purpose.

An expedient method for creating a graphic solution Coulomb's earth pressure theory was
given by Culmann (1 Culmann's solution can be used for any wall friction, regardless of
irregularity of backfill and surcharges. Hence, it provides a powerful technique for estimating
lateral earth pressure. The steps in Culmann' s solution of active pressure with granular backfill
(c = 0) are described next, with reference to Figure 17.

1. Draw the features of the retaining wall and the backfill to a convenient

2. Determine the value of () (degrees) a 8, where 8 = angle of wall friction.

3. Draw a line A C that makes an angle ¢ with the horizontal.

4. Draw a line AD that makes an angle If/with lineAe.

5. To consider some trial failure wedges, draw lines AC p A A ... ,ACn •

6. Find the areas of BACI' BAC 2 ) BA ... BACn ·

7. Determine the weight of soil, W, per unit length of the retaining wall in each of the trial
failure wedges as follows:

WI = (Area of BAC x Cn x (1)

j)

W2 = (Area of BAC2 ) x (/1 x (1)

W] = (Area of BAC3 ) x (/1 x (1)

Wn = (Area of BACn) x (/1 x (1)

8. Adopt a convenient load scale and plot the weights WI' W 2) W3 , .... , W determined
ll

from step 7 on line Ae. (Note: A WI WI' AW2 = W 2 ) A W3 W 3 ' ... AWn = W,,).

9. Draw W j w;,W 2 w~, ... W n w~ parallel to the line AD (Note: w;. ware
II

located on lines AC p AC2 ) A ... , AC respectively).

Il
,

10. Draw a smooth curve through points w;. w 2 ' w}'" curve is called the
Culmann line.

1L Draw a tangent to the smooth curve drawn in step 10. This tangent is parallel to line
A e. Let w;,
be the point of tangency.

12. Draw a line wa w~ . parallel to the line AD.

17
 17

13. Determine the active per unit length of wall as

Pa (Length of wa w~ ) x (Load scale)

14. Draw a line A W;, Ca. BA C" is the desired failure wedge.

Fai!ure ?lane

( ().)
c,
B

Figure 17.

18
 18

discussed in the Coulomb theory's section, the point of application of Pa can be found by
drawing a line through the centre of gravity of the failure wedge and parallel to the failure plane
until it intersects the wall (see Figure 13). The direction of Pa is along a line that makes an
angle 8 with a line normal to the back side of the wall (see Figure 12).

Figure 18 shows the procedure for determining the passive resistance by Culmann's method.
The approach is similar to that for the active pressure, except:

1) line AC makes an angle of ¢ degrees below rather than above the horizontal

2) the reference line makes an angle ewith line AC

\
[",culmann curve

Tangent to cu(\/e----"

and parallel to tiC

Figure 18.

Lateral pressure by theory of elasticity

The theory of elasticity is used to determine the lateral earth pressure on retaining structure
caused by various types of surcharge loading, such as point load surcharge, line load surcharge
and strip load surcharge.

19
 19

Boussinesq's equations may be expressed in terms of either rectangular or polar coordinates.

Referring to the elements in Figure 19, the equations are as follows:

_._ _""",,~~_ _ _ _ _ _..,--~ y ~.~ -,-,"""'"".,.,.".---k-----~-- y

I
iI

x
x
I
I

I
~1~~_

0.) (b)

Figure 19.

(45)
(45)

(46)

3Q{/Z 1-2J.1[ 1 2(R+Z)/ Z]} (47)

~, = 2IT R5 + 3 R(R + Z) - R\R + Z)2 - R3

In polar coordinates

(48)

(J = -Q-2 [3 .
SIn
2{)
oCos 3{) (l-2J.1)cos 8]
0---'------=-------­
2
(49)
r 2m 1 + cos 8

(50)

where r = .) x 2 + /

20
 20

J1 Poisson's ratio

Thus, from above the theoretical horizontal earth pressure increase due to a point load Q is
given by elasticity theory as (see Figure 20):

substitute y =0 in a, above and also assume J1 = 0.5

(51)

substitute x = aH and Z bH

(52)

To include the restraining effect of the wall (to keep the calculated pressures in line with
experimental data):

for a> 0.4 (53)

~a = 0.28Q (54)
2
b for a S 0.4 (54)
h H2 (0.16+
G..

Figure 20.

Pressure increased due to line load (see Figure 21).

21
 2J

Figure 21.

4q a2b (55)
(55)
for a> 0.4
reB (a 2 + b 2 )2

0.203b (56)
for a''::; 0.4 (5b)
B (0.16 + b 2)2

where q load intensity per unit length.

(
Pressure increased due to a strip load (see 2~).
b I 0..

Figure 22.

(57)
('57-)

where ex and j3 are as defined in the Figure 22 and j3 is expressed in radians. Note that ex is the
angle between the wall and the bisector of angle j3, not the angle to the centre of the strip load.

22

r - - - - - - - - - - - - -.....- - - . - - - - ­
Extra note to bottom of page 21 in Lateral Earth Pressure Chapter.

The total force per unit length (P) due to the strip loading only may be expressed as
(Jarquio, 1981):

P = (q/90)[ (8 2 8d] (57b)

Where,
81 = tan -I (b'/ H) (57c)

and 82 = tan -I (a' + b'l H) (57d)

23

~.,,~-.~- ... ~~-

" TABLE p.~ Values of K~

15 0 0.550 0.512 0.435 -0.179

5 0.566 0.525 0.445 -0.184
10 0.621 0.571 0.477 -0.186
15 0.776 0.683 0.546 -0.196
20 0 0.455 0.420 0.350 -0.210
5 0.465 0.429 0.357 -0.212
10 0.497 0.456 0.377 -0.218
15 0.567 0.514 0.417 -0.229
25 0 0.374 0.342 0.278 -0.231
5 0.381 0.348 0.283 -0.233
10 0.402 0.366 0.296 -0.239
15 0.443 0.401 0.321 -0.250
30 0 0:305 0.276 0.218 -0.244
5 0.309 0.280 0.221 -0.246
10 0.323 0.292 0.230 -0.252
15 0.350 0.315 0.246 -0.263

24
 Surcharge
q

45 ~

(b)

in which
he = horizontal unit pressure at any point on the wall

P = applied truck-wheel load

x horizontal distance from wall to load
y lateral distance from point to load
z vertical distance from point to loao.
R =V x 2 + y2 + z2.

25
 (a)

in which

h. = horizontal unit pressure on the wall at any depth z opposite

one end of a parallel strip load on the backfill surface;
P. = load per unit length 0 f strip;
x = distance from wall to strip load;

Yl = length of strip load;

RI Vx 2 + z2;and

3 = appreximation for 7f'.

26
 Point x,O,z
h
s
/

27

~------ ............- ­
 (c)

h - Pa [arc tan X2YI X2YIZ arctan XIYI + XIYIZ ]

a - 3 . ZRx2 (X~ + Z2) Rx2 - zRxl (xi + Z2) Rxi

in which
ha horizontal unit pressure on a retaining wall at any depth Z
opposite one end of a uniformly distributed area load on
the backfill surface;
P. = surcharge load per unit area;

XI distance from wall to near side of load;

X2 = distance from wall to far side ofload;

X2 - XI = width ofload in direction normal to wall;

YI = length of loaded area;

Rxl = ~+ YI + Z2);
Rx2 = v(xT'+ YT + Z2); and

3 = approximation for 'Ir.

28
 h / ' Point O,O,z
a

in which
hp = horizontal pressure at any depth z on a wall due to a perper
dicular strip load;
Pp =, strip load per unit of length; and
x I = distance from wall to near end of load;
X2 distance from wall to far end of load;
Ro = y'y2 + z2;
X
() = arc tan R ; and
. 0
de h /' 3 = approximation for 1r.
p

x
/'" Point O,O,z
hp

29