Worked examples

A.J.Bond, B.Schuppener, G.Scarpelli, T.L.L.Orr

Fig.A.3.20 Time settlement curve for the whole footing scheme (H=3,5 m)

A.4. Worked example to accompany Chapter 4

This worked example illustrates the way in which a T-shaped wall may be designed according to
Eurocode 7. Two solutions are included – one for Design Approach 1 (DA1) and the other for DA2*.
The design situation involves a T-shaped gravity wall with that is required to support granular fill. This
ground and the fill are both dry.

A.4.1. DESIGN SITUATION

Consider a T-shaped gravity wall (Figure A.4.1) with retained height H=6,0 m that is required to
3
support granular fill with characteristic weight density γk =19 kN/m and drained strength parameters
φk = 32,5° and c'k =0 kPa.
A variable surcharge pk=5 kPa acts behind the wall on ground that rises at an angle β = 20° to the
horizontal.
The dimensions of the wall are as follows: overall breadth (assumed) B=3,9 m; base thickness
tb=0,8 m; toe width bt=0,95 m; thickness of wall stem ts=0,7 m. The weight density of reinforced
3
concrete is γc,k=25 kN/m .
The properties of the ground beneath the wall are the same as the fill. This ground and the fill are
both dry.

Fig.A.4.1 T-shaped gravity wall

120
 Worked examples
A.J.Bond, B.Schuppener, G.Scarpelli, T.L.L.Orr

Geometry
Width wall heel is:

bheel  B  bt  ts  2,25m

Height of fill above wall heel is:

hf  H  bheel tan( β )  6,82m

Height of wall above wall heel including the thickness of base is:

Hheel  hf  tb  7,62m

Depth to base of footing is:

d  tb  0,8m

A.4.2. T-SHAPED WALL: VERIFICATION OF DRAINED STRENGTH (LIMIT

STATE GEO) - DESIGN APPROACH 1

Material properties
Partial factors

 M1   1   1 
from Set   : γφ    and γ c   
 M2  1,25   1,25 

Design angle of shearing resistance:

 tan  φk    32,5 
φd  atan     
 γ
 φ   27 

Design effective cohesion:

c 'k  0 
c 'd  =   kPa
γc  0 

Actions
Characteristic self-weight of wall (permanent action) is:
o wall stem Wstem,Gk  γ c,k ts H  105kN/m

o wall base Wbase,Gk  γ c,k tb B  78kN/m

Characteristic total self-weight of wall is:

Wwall ,Gk  Wstem,Gk  Wbase,Gk  183kN/m

Characteristic total self-weight of backfill is:

121
 Worked examples
A.J.Bond, B.Schuppener, G.Scarpelli, T.L.L.Orr

H  hf
Wfill ,Gk  γ k bheel  274kN/m
2

Characteristic total self-weight of wall including backfill is then:

WGk  Wwall ,Gk  Wfill ,Gk  457kN/m

Characteristic surcharge (variable) is:

qQk  pk  5kPa

QQk  qQk bheel  11,3kN/m

Design active earth pressure coefficient (for calculating inclined thrust) is:

 cos β  cos β 2  cos φ 2 

     d  cos( β )   0,365 
K aβ,d    
 
 cos( β )  cos  β   cos  φd 
2 2
 0,486 


Equivalent coefficient for calculating horizontal thrust is:

 0,343 
Kah,d  Kaβ,d cos( β )   
 0,457 

Partial factors

 A1   1,35   1,5 
from Set   : γG    and γQ   
 A2   1   1,3 

Design thrust (inclined at angle β to the horizontal) from earth pressure on back of virtual plane is:

 1    271,4 
o from ground Ea,Gd  γG Kaβ,d  γ k Hheel
2
   kN/m
 2    268,2 

 20,8 
o from surcharge Ea,Qd  γQ Kaβ,d qQk Hheel     kN/m
 24,1 

 292,2 
o total Ea,d  Ea,Gd  Ea,Qd    kN/m
 292,3 
Horizontal component of design thrust is then:

 274,6 
HEd =Ea,d cos( β )    kN/m
 274,7 

Vertical/normal component of design weight and thrust:

 716,9 
NEd  γGWGk  Ea,d sin( β )    kN/m
 557 

Moments about wall toe - bearing design situation

Design overturning moments (destabilizing) about wall toe:

122
 Worked examples
A.J.Bond, B.Schuppener, G.Scarpelli, T.L.L.Orr

1   285,7 
o from ground MGd  Ea,Gd  Hheel cos( β )  Bsin( β )     kNm/m
3   282,3 

1   46,8 
o from surcharge MQd  Ea,Qd  Hheel cos( β )  Bsin( β )     kNm/m
3   54,1 

 332,5 
o total design destabilising moment is: Mdst ,d =MGd  MQd    kNm/m
 336,4 
Design restoring moments (stabilizing) about wall toe:

 t 
o from wall stem Mstem,Gd  γG,favWstem,Gk  bt  s   136,5kNm/m
 2

B
o from wall base Mbase,Gd  γG,favWbase,Gk  152,1kNm/m
2

  b   hf  H   bheel  
o from backfill Mfill ,Gd  γG,fav γ k bheel H  B  heel    2   B  3    766,9kNm/m
  2    

bheel
o from surcharge MQd ,fav  γG,fav QQk  12,7kNm/m
2
o total design stabilising moment is: Mstb,d =Mstem,Gd  Mbase,Gd  Mfill ,Gd  MQd ,fav  1068kNm/m

Line of action of resultant force is a distance from the toe:

Mstb,d  Mdst ,d  1,03 

x = m
NEd  1,31

Eccentricity of actions from centre line of base is:

B  0,92 
ed  x  m
2  0,64 

Effective width of base is then:

 2,05 
B 'd =B  2ed   m
 2,63 

Bearing resistance
Design bearing capacity factors:

 π tan φ   φ     24,6 
2

Nq,d  e  d   tan  45  d      

   2     13,2 


 30,1 
Nγ ,d  2  Nq,d  1 tan  φd     
 12,4 

Shape factors (for an infinitely long footing): sq=1,0 and sγ = 1,0

Inclination factors: (using mB = 2 for an infinitely long footing)

123
 Worked examples
A.J.Bond, B.Schuppener, G.Scarpelli, T.L.L.Orr

mB
 HEd   0,38 
iq  1   = 
 NEd  Ac 'd cot(φd )   0,26 

m 1
B
 0,23 
iγ  i q mB   
 0,13 

Partial factors

from Set R1: γRv = 1

Design bearing resistance (in terms of pressure) is:

 γ k dNq,d sq i q   142,2 
o from overburden qRvq,d     kPa
 γ Rv   51,6 

 1 B 'd γ k Nγ ,d sγ iγ   137,6 
o from body-mass qRvγ ,d     kPa
2 γ Rv   40,4 

 279,8 
o total qRv ,d =qRvq,d  qRvγ ,d    kPa
 92 
Characteristic bearing resistance (in terms of force) is:

 574 
NRd  (qRv ,d B 'd )    kN/m
 242 

A.4.3. VERIFICATIONS

Verification of resistance to sliding

Partial factors

from Set R1: γRh = 1

For cast-in-place concrete, interface friction angle is k=1 times the constant-volume angle of shearing
Assume φcv,k =30°

δd  kφcv ,k  30

Design sliding resistance (drained), ignoring adhesion (as required by EN 1997-1 exp. 6.3a)

γG,fav NEd tan(δd )  413,9 

HRd    kN/m
γ Rh  321,6 

HEd  66  H  1,51 
'Degree of utilization' Λ  =   % or 'Overdesign factor' ODF  Rd =  
HRd  85  HEd  1,17 

The design is unacceptable if the degree of utilization is > 100% (or overdesign factor is < 1)

Verification of bearing resistance

124
 Worked examples
A.J.Bond, B.Schuppener, G.Scarpelli, T.L.L.Orr

Design bearing resistance is:

 574,4 
NRd    kN/m
 241,8 

Design bearing force is:

 716,9 
NEd    kN/m
 557 

NEd  125  NRd  0,8 

'Degree of utilization' Λ  =  % or 'Overdesign factor' ODF  = 
NRd  230  NEd  0,43 

The design is unacceptable if the degree of utilization is > 100% (or overdesign factor is < 1)

Verification of resistance to toppling

Design de-stabilizing moment is:

 332 
MEd ,dst  MGd  MQd    kNm/m
 336 

Design stabilizing moment is (approximately):

MEd ,stb  Mstb,d  1068kNm/m

MEd ,dst  31 M  3,21

'Degree of utilization' Λ     % or 'Overdesign factor' ODF= Ed ,stb   
MEd ,stb  31 MEd ,dst  3,17 

The design is unacceptable if the degree of utilization is > 100% (or overdesign factor is < 1)

A.4.4. T-SHAPED WALL: VERIFICATION OF DRAINED STRENGTH (LIMIT

STATE GEO) - DESIGN APPROACH 2*

Material properties
Characteristic material properties are used throughout this calculation.

Actions
Characteristic self-weight of wall (permanent action) is:
o wall stem Wstem,Gk  γ c,k ts H  105kN/m

o wall base Wbase,Gk  γ c,k tb B  78kN/m

Characteristic total self-weight of wall is:

Wwall ,Gk  Wstem,Gk  Wbase,Gk  183kN/m

Characteristic total self-weight of backfill is:

H  hf
Wfill ,Gk  γ k bheel  274kN/m
2

125