Purpose of calculation:

The details of a cantilever retaining wall are shown below, is the design of the wall satisfactory?

Calculation Reference
Craig Soil Mechanics. R.F. Craig

Calculation Validation
Check against a worked example in the reference above.

Calculation Units SI 2
Q

t₁ w₁ h₁ 1

t₂

b₁
Surcharge Pressure
Q= 10000 N/m²
Thickness of the Stem
t1 = 0.3 m
Thickness of the Base
t2 = 0.4 m
Length of Backfill
w1 = 1.75 m
Height of Wall from the Base
h1 = 5.4 m
Width of the Base
b1 = 3m
Characteristics of Backfill
Drained (effective stress) Shear Strength Parameter
c'= 0 N/m²
Unit Weight of the backfill
γ= 17000 N/m³
Drained (effective stress) Shear Strength Parameter
ϕ' = 36 °
Characteristics of Concrete
Unit Weight of Concrete
γ concrete = 23500 N/m³
Angle of friction between the base and the foundation soil is
δ= 27 °
Active earth pressure coefficient
Ka = #ADDIN? = 1 - sin[{p ϕ } / 180]
### [Eqn. 1]
'

1 + sin[{pϕ'} / 180]
Horizontal Forces
FH1 = #ADDIN? N = KaQh1 [Eqn. 2]
###

FH2 = #ADDIN? N = 0.5Kaγh12 [Eqn. 3]

###
Sum of Horizontal Forces
FH = #ADDIN? N = FH1 + FH2 [Eqn. 4]
###
Vertical Forces
Fstem = 35250 N ###= (h1 - t2)t1γ concrete [Eqn. 5]

Fbase = 28200 N = t2b1γ concrete [Eqn. 6]

###

Fsoil = 148750 N = (h1 - t2)w1γ [Eqn. 7]

###
Sum of Vertical Forces
FV = 212200 N ###= Fsoil + Fbase + Fstem [Eqn. 8]
Lever
LH1 = #ADDIN? m = h1
### [Eqn. 9]
2
LH2 = #ADDIN? m = h1
### [Eqn. 10]
3
Lstem = #ADDIN? m ### 1 - w1 - t1 [Eqn. 11]
= b
2
Lbase = #ADDIN? m = b
### 1 [Eqn. 12]
2
Lsoil = #ADDIN? m = w1 + (b1 - w1) [Eqn. 13]
###
Moments 2
= FH1LH1 [Eqn. 14]
MH1 = #ADDIN? N.m ###

MH2 = #ADDIN? N.m ###

MH = #ADDIN? N.m ###

= MH1 + MH2 [Eqn. 16]

= FstemLstem [Eqn. 17]

Mstem = #ADDIN? N.m ###

= FbaseLbase [Eqn. 18]

Mbase = #ADDIN? N.m ###

= FsoilLsoil [Eqn. 19]

Msoil = #ADDIN? N.m ###

MV = #ADDIN? N.m ###= Mstem + Mbase + Msoil [Eqn. 20]

= MV - MH [Eqn. 21]
M = #ADDIN? N.m ###

Lever arm of base resultant

L = #ADDIN? m = M
### [Eqn. 22] Note, the resultant acts within the middle third of the base
FoS against overturning FV
FoS = #ADDIN? = MV
### [Eqn. 23]
Eccentricity of base reaction MH
 e = #ADDIN? m = b1 - L [Eqn. 24]
###
2
Maximum and minimum base pressures
= FV
pmax = #ADDIN? N/m² ### 1 + 6e [Eqn. 25]
b1 b1
= FV
pmin = #ADDIN? N/m² ### 1 - 6e [Eqn. 26]
b1 b1
FoS against sliding
FoS = #ADDIN? = F tan[{pδ} / 180]
### [Eqn. 27]
V
FH

#ADDIN?
Table of compatible units
Length Area Volume Time Angle Mass Velocity Acceleration
Fundamental m m² m³ s ° kg m/s m/s²
SI m m² m³ s ° kg m/s m/s²
SI (mm) mm mm² mm³ s ° g mm/s mm/s²
US Unit (ft) ft ft² ft³ s ° slug ft/s ft/s²
US Unit (in) in in² in³ s ° lbf.s²/in in/s in/s²
Force Unit Weight Moment LDForce Work Energy Power Density Stress
kg.m/s² N/m³ N.m kg/s² kg.m/s².m kg.m/s².m kg.m²/s³ kg/m³ kg/m.s²
N N/m³ N.m N/m J J W kg/m³ N/m²
N N/mm³ N.mm N/mm mJ mJ mW g/mm³ MPa
lbf lbf/ft³ lbf.ft lbf/ft ft.lb ft.lb ft.lb/s slug/ft³ lbf/ft²
lbf lbf/in³ lbf.in lbf/in in.lbf in.lbf in.lbf/s lbf.s²/in⁴ psi
x along length

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