80  Earth pressure and earth-retaining structures

– +
δ δ
Active Passive

Rigid model wall Mode of wall displacement

Retained sand

Kp
4

1
Ka K0

–0.005 –0.001 +0.005 +0.010 +0.015 +0.020

0
Lateral displacement/wall height (δ/H)

Figure 3.12  Model retaining wall tests, based on Terzaghi’s experiments.

The reason for change in the earth pressure coefficient due to wall move-
ment is that, as the wall moves away from its initial ‘at rest’ condition,
increasing shear stresses are applied to the soil. Eventually, these shear
stresses mobilise the full shear strength of the soil, and the soil then fails.
Figure 3.13 shows how failure surfaces might develop in the simple case

Movement Movement

T
W
W
Active Passive Failure surface
N
T
force force
N

Failure surface
(a) (b)

Figure 3.13  Failure states for soil supported by a smooth wall. (a) Active case. (b) Passive
case.